The University has experienced “very high retention rates and high recruitment success” in hiring of junior faculty, according to Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity Karen Cook. Faculty, however, have cited several exceptions to Stanford’s overall success in this area.

In fact, the goal of the Faculty Development and Diversity Office in recent years has been twofold: to increase the number of women and minority faculty members and to address the reasons why a faculty member might choose to leave Stanford. Only 11 percent of Stanford faculty members are minorities, and 25 percent are women.

According to the “Guide to Recruiting and Retaining an Excellent and Diverse Faculty at Stanford,” faculty recruitment searches are required to make an extra effort to find qualified women and minority candidates, and one member of each departmental search committee must serve as a diversity officer. Furthermore, if the search committee identifies a minority or female candidate who is qualified but not the top candidate, the committee is encouraged to explore the possibility of recruiting this candidate along with the top candidate. Departments and schools may capitalize on opportunities to hire “equally qualified candidates from underrepresented groups.”

Apart from these issues, Stanford faculty report very high satisfaction rates. Eighty percent of faculty respondents in a 2008 quality of life survey described themselves as “very” or “somewhat satisfied” at Stanford. In a similar Harvard study, 85 percent of faculty members described themselves as “somewhat satisfied.”

And yet professors at all stages of the tenure track cited the same reason that might push them to leave the Farm: a desire for a more supportive work environment.

For assistant professor of music Anna Schultz, who was hired in 2010, the University offers advantages and disadvantages in this respect.

“I came here because I felt a real sense of support for research and teaching,” she said. “If I get a big idea for a conference or a creative idea for teaching, I know that there is the support to make it happen here.”

But sometimes that’s not enough.

“There is a lot of support for individual projects, but there are fewer projects in which people come together collaboratively, “ Schultz explained. “It is possible that there is less of a sense of community here.”

The University tries to address these problems by periodically assessing quality of life through surveys and focus groups as well as counseling and mentoring young faculty. It also rewards faculty for productivity via salary incentives and other forms of compensation.

However, potential hires face other deterrents, notably the problem of dual careers. The quality of life survey reported that 41.7 percent of incoming professors had trouble finding appropriate employment in the area for their partner or spouse.

At Stanford, the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity addresses the dual-career problem. Law professor Robert Weisberg works directly with young faculty in assisting their spouses or partners in finding academic or other professional positions at Stanford and the surrounding area.

Yet another obstacle is the Bay Area’s high cost of living. The median sale price of an on-campus home is $1.5 million, according to the Faculty Staff Housing Office. The quality of life survey found that 25.5 percent of Stanford faculty reported cost of living as a significant source of stress, compared with 12.4 percent of faculty at peer institutions.

Stanford has tried to address high living costs by offering mortgage assistance and allowance programs to young faculty and by providing more affordable on-campus housing. The University finished building a faculty-housing complex last year on Stanford Avenue, called Olmsted Terrace, with starting prices between $700,000 and $900,000.

Faculty can buy a three- or four-bedroom house with a 51-year restrictive ground lease, after which time they must sell the home back to Stanford. Despite the University’s efforts, the high cost of living remains a significant problem for assistant professors, especially for those recently out of graduate school without any money to spare.