Already over 70% of people teaching in higher education don’t have tenure or any hope of getting tenure. This is not a bad thing. Much of the teaching at the college level is very primitive, and it would make no sense to hand out tenure for it. In addition, most people in higher education have absolutely no interest in reading, writing, or generating ages of their own. As the current cohort of tenured academics reaches retirement, its members are not going to be replaced. We are already experiencing a dramatic reduction of tenure lines everywhere, which, again, is not a bad thing.
In the future where every University will have three to four actual professors in the humanities, we will have a healthier situation than we do now. I have observed that people outside of academia derive enjoyment from seeing something who is sincerely and passionately dedicated to a life organized around reading and learning.
This small remaining handful of professors will have enough to write about because it will take them at least a century to unravel all of the damage inflicted on the humanities in the era of massification.
I believe that all of this is good and necessary.
Clarissa's Blog 