Survey Finds More Women on Faculties, but Earn Less Pay

WASHINGTON — More women are becoming college professors but they receive lower pay and fewer promotions, a survey by the American Association for University Professors released earlier this month finds.
Women made up 22.5 percent of all U.S. faculty members in 1974-75. That percentage jumped to 33.8 percent by 1997-98. But the study indicates that more than half of them are in lower-level positions, such as lecturers and instructors, regardless of the type of institution.
Women represented 55.6 percent of lecturers, 58.6 percent of instructors, and 46.8 percent of assistant professors — the professions full-time, entry-level position — in the 1997-98 academic year, the study found. But just 18.7 percent of full professors were women.
The data are based on an annual survey of about 2,500 public and private college administrators. The response rate is about 75 percent, researchers say.
Women also are more likely to work at community colleges, which generally pay less than four-year colleges and universities. The report also was published in the January-February 1999 issue of Academe, the group's journal.