Women earned, on average, less than 90 percent of what men did in five of the eight Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education considered for this table. In all of those classifications, they made up more than 40 percent of the full-time instructional staff, and they came closest to equaling male representation at master’s colleges with medium-size programs. In terms of pay, they did best in comparison with men as full-time instructors at master’s institutions with medium or small programs.
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Doctoral institutions
Highest research activity
| Professor | 40,480 | 25.9% | $137,991 | $141,347 | $128,390 | 90.8% |
| Associate professor | 29,824 | 42.3% | $93,711 | $96,429 | $90,026 | 93.4% |
| Assistant professor | 27,259 | 47.1% | $81,380 | $85,217 | $77,148 | 90.5% |
| Instructor | 7,160 | 59.3% | $53,053 | $56,180 | $50,941 | 90.7% |
| Lecturer | 11,392 | 54.5% | $59,793 | $63,622 | $56,590 | 88.9% |
| No academic rank | 3,976 | 50.5% | $57,447 | $61,682 | $53,186 | 86.2% |
| All instructional staff total | 120,091 | 40.3% | $98,806 | $107,899 | $85,444 | 79.2% |
Higher research activity
| Professor | 13,637 | 28.1% | $110,888 | $113,934 | $103,129 | 90.5% |
| Associate professor | 14,333 | 43.3% | $83,586 | $86,001 | $80,454 | 93.6% |
| Assistant professor | 12,751 | 49.8% | $72,216 | $75,598 | $68,853 | 91.1% |
| Instructor | 4,025 | 60.2% | $51,523 | $52,403 | $50,950 | 97.2% |
| Lecturer | 5,916 | 56.6% | $53,434 | $55,250 | $52,037 | 94.2% |
| No academic rank | 1,457 | 56.1% | $56,565 | $59,334 | $54,357 | 91.6% |
| All instructional staff total | 52,119 | 44.1% | $81,374 | $88,088 | $72,905 | 82.8% |
Moderate research activity
| Professor | 5,179 | 33.7% | $96,163 | $98,285 | $92,037 | 93.6% |
| Associate professor | 5,176 | 47.6% | $76,750 | $77,841 | $75,553 | 97.1% |
| Assistant professor | 5,105 | 53.8% | $66,108 | $68,287 | $64,251 | 94.1% |
| Instructor | 1,521 | 59.1% | $45,928 | $46,083 | $45,819 | 99.4% |
| Lecturer | 2,810 | 56.0% | $49,735 | $50,603 | $49,057 | 96.9% |
| No academic rank | 387 | 57.6% | $48,811 | $49,259 | $48,475 | 98.4% |
| All instructional staff total | 20,178 | 47.8% | $72,486 | $76,911 | $67,679 | 88.0% |
•••
Master’s institutions
Larger programs
| Professor | 17,707 | 37.3% | $94,454 | $96,103 | $91,687 | 95.4% |
| Associate professor | 16,205 | 47.8% | $75,953 | $77,130 | $74,671 | 96.8% |
| Assistant professor | 16,542 | 53.6% | $66,136 | $67,406 | $65,042 | 96.5% |
| Instructor | 4,949 | 63.4% | $47,906 | $48,096 | $47,796 | 99.4% |
| Lecturer | 5,982 | 56.0% | $52,771 | $54,106 | $51,731 | 95.6% |
| No academic rank | 1,128 | 59.4% | $50,133 | $52,309 | $48,634 | 93.0% |
| All instructional staff total | 62,513 | 48.6% | $73,736 | $77,550 | $69,709 | 89.9% |
Medium programs
| Professor | 3,901 | 36.6% | $85,905 | $87,170 | $83,724 | 96.0% |
| Associate professor | 3,735 | 47.3% | $69,583 | $70,753 | $68,290 | 96.5% |
| Assistant professor | 3,836 | 55.1% | $60,389 | $61,177 | $59,750 | 97.7% |
| Instructor | 1,102 | 62.3% | $45,938 | $45,369 | $46,291 | 102.0% |
| Lecturer | 1,260 | 61.3% | $47,573 | $48,315 | $47,107 | 97.5% |
| No academic rank | 408 | 57.4% | $54,340 | $56,113 | $53,017 | 94.5% |
| All instructional staff total | 14,242 | 49.1% | $67,343 | $70,716 | $63,868 | 90.3% |
Smaller programs
| Professor | 1,684 | 37.2% | $84,176 | $85,021 | $82,759 | 97.3% |
| Associate professor | 1,866 | 42.5% | $70,256 | $71,284 | $68,877 | 96.6% |
| Assistant professor | 2,081 | 50.3% | $61,048 | $62,084 | $60,038 | 96.7% |
| Instructor | 545 | 60.4% | $47,321 | $46,795 | $47,671 | 101.9% |
| Lecturer | 700 | 48.7% | $51,879 | $53,413 | $50,255 | 94.1% |
| No academic rank | 38 | 42.1% | $57,251 | $61,982 | $50,963 | 82.2% |
| All instructional staff total | 6,914 | 45.6% | $67,136 | $69,442 | $64,404 | 92.7% |
•••
Baccalaureate institutions
Arts and sciences focus
| Professor | 801 | 32.8% | $93,239 | $95,795 | $87,907 | 91.8% |
| Associate professor | 897 | 44.4% | $74,521 | $77,592 | $70,537 | 90.9% |
| Assistant professor | 896 | 46.2% | $62,439 | $64,474 | $60,036 | 93.1% |
| Instructor | 245 | 51.8% | $52,260 | $54,935 | $49,649 | 90.4% |
| Lecturer | 164 | 57.3% | $51,986 | $52,844 | $51,354 | 97.2% |
| No academic rank | 43 | 46.5% | $48,547 | $50,050 | $46,911 | 93.7% |
| All instructional staff total | 3,046 | 43.2% | $72,611 | $76,768 | $67,009 | 87.3% |
Diverse fields
| Professor | 1,498 | 35.0% | $83,481 | $84,605 | $81,374 | 96.2% |
| Associate professor | 1,941 | 42.5% | $69,388 | $70,331 | $68,112 | 96.8% |
| Assistant professor | 2,596 | 51.0% | $59,245 | $61,136 | $57,436 | 93.9% |
| Instructor | 944 | 59.2% | $49,328 | $50,106 | $48,795 | 97.4% |
| Lecturer | 532 | 57.0% | $55,539 | $58,477 | $53,346 | 91.2% |
| No academic rank | 127 | 35.4% | $47,555 | $48,788 | $45,083 | 92.4% |
| All instructional staff total | 7,638 | 46.9% | $64,918 | $67,873 | $61,561 | 90.7% |
Note: Data cover full-time instructional staff members at degree-granting four-year public institutions in the United States that are eligible to participate in Title IV financial-aid programs. Summary data are given for average salaries within each relevant Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The salaries are adjusted to a standard nine-month work year, and averages are weighted. Medical-school instructional staff are excluded. Tribal colleges and special-focus institutions are also excluded from the above categories. More-detailed institutional and summary faculty-salary data can be viewed online at https://data.chronicle.com. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.
Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data