AAUP Research Director Reports on Gender Gap

Academe, May/Jun 2004

In January, AAUP director of research John Curtis presented gender-related data from the Association's annual faculty compensation survey to a committee established in response to a mandate by Congress to study gender differences in faculty careers, focusing on four-year colleges and universities. The Committee on Gender Differences in Careers of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Faculty is a joint effort of the Committee on Women in Science and Engineering and the Committee on National Statistics of the National Academies. Ronald Ehrenberg, chair of the AAUP's Committee on the Economic Status of the Profession, is a member of the joint committee.

The survey data Curtis reported on form the basis for "The Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession" published each year in the March-April issue of Academe. Analysis of the data indicates that, within each rank and institutional type, women faculty earn less than men. At the rank of full professor, women's average salaries are 88 percent of men's; at the rank of associate professor, they are 93 percent; and at the rank of assistant professor, they are 92 percent. When all ranks and all institutional types are combined, women earn an average of 80 percent of the salary of men.

Curtis noted that gender-specific data collected by the AAUP since 1975 indicate that the average salaries of women professors relative to those of men have changed little over that period. He explained that the lower overall figure for women reflects the fact that women faculty are much less likely than men to hold senior rank, and are less likely to teach at the highestpaying institutions. Only about 18 percent of full professors at doctoral universities are women, according to the 2003-04 AAUP survey. Further, only 47 percent of all women faculty have tenure, compared with 65 percent of men. The gap between women's and men's salaries varies somewhat by institutional type; for example, the gender salary distribution at community colleges is much more equitable than it is at other types of institutions.

Curtis also informed the joint committee about two current AAUP initiatives that address related issues. He discussed the statement Contingent Appointments and the Academic Profession, adopted by the Association's Council as policy in November, pointing out that as long as contingent positions continue to displace tenured and tenure-track positions, and women remain overrepresented among contingent faculty, the potential for gender equity remains remote.

In addition, he reported on "Access to the Profession," an AAUP project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that seeks to encourage institutions to adopt policies and procedures to allow faculty members to balance their academic careers more effectively with their family responsibilities. Because women continue to bear a disproportionate share of family work, Curtis said, academic employment policies that assume a full-time career commitment without any interruptions have served as a barrier to the advancement of women into senior faculty ranks.