We use CUPA-HR data to analyze representation and pay equity for women and racial/ethnic minorities in higher education full-time faculty from 2016-17 to 2022-23, across tenure status, rank, discipline, and total operating expenses of institutions. Results indicate that, despite some growth in the representation of women and faculty of color in…

Although research has revealed many factors that predict faculty turnover, the literature is often limited by using intent to leave as a proxy for actual turnover, and further by consolidating faculty who leave institutions with faculty who leave the occupation. We resolve these limitations and advance the faculty mobility literature by studying…

Inequities in faculty representation and support have long been documented, though a potentially key contributor to these inequities--negotiation behavior--remains underexplored. We leverage descriptive analyses and hierarchical linear modeling with a sample of over 30,000 faculty to explore gender- and race-based differences across negotiating…

Full-time teaching-focused faculty at research universities may hold alternative titles such as Assistant Teaching Professor, Instructor, or Lecturer. We manipulated the title of a fictitious faculty target to investigate how such titles are perceived. Student and lay respondents (N = 317) respected and liked all targets, and their ratings did not…

Non-tenure-track (NTT) faculty--typically contingent faculty hired on fixed-term contracts--know that budgets tightened during the pandemic likely mean fewer jobs, with little or no hope of professional advancement. Cost-conscious administrators often resist extending benefits to such instructors or look to trim those already in place, leaving…

Background: The number of engineering PhDs pursuing postdoctoral research scholar (postdoc) positions has steadily increased in the last 30 years. Postdoc positions are commonly thought of as a step toward academic careers. However, engineering PhDs are more likely to work in industry, which leaves open the question of the role of postdocs in the…

In recent years, universities have appointed an increasing number of "teaching-only" or "teaching-dominant" staff. While the balance of reward and recognition between teaching and research has been extensively considered for staff engaged in both, this is the first attempt to look at the situation of staff appointed on…

America's workforce is aging, and popular press articles have warned of a "silver tsunami" of retirements, particularly among the baby boomer generation. Dramatic headlines aside, even gradual changes in workforce demographics will affect hiring, budgeting, training, and more. Higher education tenure-track faculty may be uniquely…

The dual labor market theory (DLM) posited the existence of two distinct labor markets working in parallel. A primary one is a place where high wages, employment stability and high opportunities for advancement are the norms. On the other hand, low wages, arbitrariness and less desirable working conditions determine a secondary market. The main…

Many of the gender and racial wage gaps found in society are also seen within higher education, with less diversity among college administrators, faculty, and staff than the United States population as a whole. Postsecondary institutions alone cannot correct the systemic inequities that limit socioeconomic mobility and racial justice, but they can…

Promotion with tenure is often the ultimate goal for PhD students who choose to pursue a career in higher education. Extensive mentorship is provided for tenure-track faculty to smooth the path toward promotion with tenure, but most faculty members achieve this goal relatively early in their careers, leaving years if not decades ahead in a tenured…

Studies of financial returns to publication typically focus on publications by faculty at top doctoral granting institutions for publishing in the top journals of the field. This study expands the field of inquiry to examine financial returns to academic accountants at master's and bachelor's granting institutions for publishing in a wide range of…

Class ends. Students pack up and head back to their dorms. The professor, meanwhile, goes to her car . . . to catch a little sleep, and then eat a cheeseburger in her lap before driving across the city to a different university to teach another, wholly different class. All for a paycheck that, once prep and grading are factored in, barely reaches…

Institutions of higher education are facing increased pressure to do more with less while continuing to provide a high-quality education. Faculty are asked to teach more and do more with decreased resources and without additional compensation. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on institutions of higher education resulting in…

Increasingly, scholars in academia as well as journalists are noting vast pay discrepancies among professorial ranks. This study is an attempt to examine how gender, rank, and scholarly output influence faculty members' income from their institutions. Using equity theory as a conceptual framework, the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty…