Examining the Gender Gap in Average Salaries for Faculty in Higher Education

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers data on the gender gap in faculty salaries at Title IV institutions of postsecondary education. Title IV institutions are all educational entities that have been approved to participate in federal student financial assistance programs for higher education.

The average salary for full-time instructional positions at these institutions in the 2017-18 academic year was $82,240. At four-year public colleges and universities the average salary for men was $93,235. For women faculty at these institutions, the average salary was $76,760. Thus, on average, women faculty earned only 82 percent of their male peers.

At private, nonprofit, four-year colleges and universities, the average salary for male faculty members was  $98,193. For women faculty at these institutions, the average salary was $79,639. Thus women, on average, earned 81.1 percent of men at these institutions.

If we compare faculty of the same ranks, we find that the gender gap is smaller but still significant. For example, at private, nonprofit, four-year institutions men full professors had an average salary of $135,167. The average salary for women full professors was $116,892. At the assistant professor level at these institutions, women earn, on average, 91.7 percent of their male counterparts.

At for-profit educational institutions, the gender gap disappears and in some faculty ranks slightly favors women.

The full report, Enrollment and Employees in Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017; and Financial Statistics and Academic Libraries, Fiscal Year 2017, may be downloaded by clicking here.