Twenty-five years of leadership: a look at trends in tenure and appointments of chairs of ophthalmology

Abstract

Objective: To assess trends in tenure for chairs of academic departments of ophthalmology and to assess characteristics that may be correlated with longevity.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: Current chairs from 136 institutions were surveyed.

Methods: Questionnaires mailed to ophthalmology chairs.

Main outcome measures: Questionnaires assessed demographics along with duration of tenure for current and previous chairs.

Results: From 1983 through 2007, 415 individuals (404 men and 11 women) held the position of chair at the 127 responding institutions. The mean duration of tenure for chairs whose tenure included 1980 was 20.3 years, and the mean duration decreased to 14.7 years for chairs whose tenure included 2000. Mean annual turnover changed from 4.8% during the first 5 years of the study to 6.7% during the last 5 years of the study. Departments had an average of 3.3 chairs during this period, with 25 departments having 5 or more new chairs. The number of female chairs increased from 4 in 1983 to 6 in 2007. Length of tenure was not found to correlate with a department's national ranking.

Conclusions: The average turnover rate for chairs of departments of ophthalmology has shown a slight upward trend over the last 25 years with a corresponding decrease in mean tenure length. Although this trend is not particularly alarming compared with those of other disciplines, academic leaders must be aware of this trend to estimate future leadership needs and to take steps to ensure tenure length does not decrease in such a way that it hinders the field.