According to data supplied by the U.S. Department of Education, the average salary of male, full-time faculty members at publicly operated degree-granting institutions in the United States during the 2010-11 academic year was $84,294. For women holding full-time faculty positions at publicly operated colleges and universities that year, the average salary was $68,598. Thus, women faculty earn, on average, only 81 percent of their male counterparts.
Part of the difference is caused by the fact that men make up a huge percentage of the faculty members in full professor positions, where salaries tend to be much higher than for other academic ranks. (For more information, see this post.)
Yet, even if we look at the average salaries of just those scholars in full professor positions, a significant gender pay gap remains. For full professors at publicly operated colleges and universities, the average salary for men was $109,466. For women the average pay for full professors was $96,886. Thus, women full professors earned, on average, only 88 percent of male full professors.
A similar gender pay gap exists at private nonprofit colleges and universities.
I’d like to see a study on differential opportunities by gender. My observation is that men have many more opportunities for funding, especially from government programs, and receive more invitations to join networks that boost careers. Often women who do well in academia have savvy male mentors who share their opportunities with women. Also, if we look at who does service work at academic institutions, it’s mostly women. Service work rarely results in increased salaries. It’s still a man’s world for the most part.