University Times

Most of the average salary increases among the ranks of continuing, full-time faculty on the University’s Pittsburgh campus last year exceeded the national averages at public doctoral institutions and some private ones as well, according to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

The AAUP Annual Report on the Economic Status of the Profession, 2004-05, published in the April/May issue of Academe, is based on data from more than 1,400 U.S. higher education institutions, including Pitt. The report is based on academic year salary figures submitted by institutions of higher education to the AAUP research department.

According to the report, Pittsburgh campus continuing faculty salary increases generally stacked up well when compared to average salary increases of continuing faculty nationally. In the classification of doctoral institutions, AAUP reported Pitt’s faculty salary increases at the Pittsburgh campus as follows:

• Continuing full professors at Pitt saw their salaries increase by 4.5 percent on average, which is more than the national average of 4.3 percent for professors in public institutions and 4.0 percent for professors in private and independent institutions.

• Pitt associate professors saw their salaries rise by an average of 5.0 percent compared to 4.7 percent for their counterparts in public schools and 5.1 percent for private and independent institutions.

• The salaries of assistant professors on the Pittsburgh campus increased by an average of 5.8 percent, the highest percentage increase among ranks of Pitt faculty. Assistant professors at public institutions received salary increases of 4.7 percent while assistant professors at private and independent institutions received a 5.0 percent increase.

• Instructor was the only category where the University’s average fell below the national averages for both public and private institutions. Pitt instructors saw their salaries increase by 3.6 percent while instructors at public institutions got 4.0 percent and instructors at private and independent institutions saw average salary increases of 4.8 percent.

The report noted which schools — by institutional category — have the highest paid full professors.

Among private institutions, Rockefeller University professors earned on average $169,200. Among public institutions, University of California-Los Angeles professors earned $123,300, while in the category of liberal arts colleges, Wellesley professors earned an average of $119,500. Topping the list for professor salaries at a community college was Westchester Community College where professors earned $97,300.

This year’s AAUP salaries report, entitled, “Inequities Persist for Women and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty,” examined the gender gap in faculty numbers and pay. Findings included:

Full-time male professors outnumber their female counterparts by more than 2:1 at doctoral institutions nationwide.

According to AAUP, Pitt’s highest gender disparity in faculty ranks was among full professors, with 380 males to 104 females, more than a 3:1 ratio. At the associate professor level, Pitt had 276 males compared to 138 females. At the rank of assistant professor Pitt came closer to parity, with 249 males to 203 females. And in the category of instructor, females outnumbered males, 62 to 23.

The disparity between male and female professors continued when comparing their pay.

According to the AAUP, female professors earn about 80 percent of what males earn in the same position at doctoral institutions nationally, while the salaries are more on par between the sexes at community colleges.

At Pitt, male full professors earned on average $112,800 compared to $99,100 for their female counterparts, according to the AAUP. Male associate professors here earned an average of almost $76,000, while females earned $70,300. At the rank of assistant professor, males made an average of $68,100 compared to $58,000 for females. And male instructors at Pitt earned $47,000 while their female counterparts made $40,500 on average.

The report also examined inequities in pay between tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty. The AAUP found that nearly two-thirds of all faculty were either part-time, non-tenure track (44.5 percent) or full-time, non-tenure track (19.2 percent); the report did not include statistics for individual institutions. These figures, from the U.S. Department of Education, fall 2001, are the most recent, comprehensive figures, according to the AAUP.

“The increasing number of faculty who are employed in contingent positions, whether full or part time, represents probably the single most significant development in higher education in the last two decades,” according to the report.

According to an analysis by James Monks of the University of Richmond, cited in the report, non-tenure faculty who work full-time earn 26 percent less than assistant professors on tenure tracks. Part-time status is more dismal: non-tenure-track faculty are paid about 64 percent less.

“The full extent of the salary differential between contingent and tenure-track faculty had not been documented until fairly recently, however,” according to the AAUP. “Nor has the full impact of contingent employment on the quality of higher education or on faculty members themselves been assessed.”

More information is available at www.aaup.org.

—Mary Ann Thomas