The AAUP office reopened on September 7, 2021. Contact information for all staff, including those working remotely or on a hybrid schedule, is available here.
The AAUP office reopened on September 7, 2021. Contact information for all staff, including those working remotely or on a hybrid schedule, is available here.
An in-depth look at recent US Department of Education data on the makeup and salaries of full-time faculty members in higher education.
This data snapshot provides an updated demographic profile of full-time faculty by academic rank and institution type, highlighting disparities among women and people of color in an effort to analyze demographic breakdowns and salary differences. The snapshot draws upon data from the provisional release of the Fall 2018 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Human Resources survey component and from foundational research by Martin Finkelstein, Jack Schuster, and Valerie Conley to understand the demographic breakdown of the faculty and the disparities that persist. Throughout the report, we have followed the terminology used by IPEDS for ease of data comparison.
This analysis shows that the proportion of women faculty members in academia is increasing, but that disparities remain.
A comparison of the proportions of full-time faculty members in each IPEDS race and ethnicity category with the broader US adult population (ages 24–64) shows that the composition of the faculty does not mirror the US population as a whole.
The AAUP’s analysis confirms that women faculty members continue to face unique challenges in academia with respect to employment, advancement, salary, and job security, and that higher education is by no means immune from systemic racism. The pay and opportunity gaps identified in this data snapshot are the result of many factors beyond gender, race, and ethnicity, and closing them will require innovative and sustained efforts.
Download the complete data snapshot.