University faculty salaries are not on par with the national average, according to a survey released today by the American Association of University Professors, AAUP. Along with analyses of faculty salaries, the data shows gender discrepancies between males and females in the same profession.
The survey, titled “Losing Focus,” comes after University faculty received about a 4 percent merit increase in salaries last year, said University President F. King Alexander.
Despite the recent raise, faculty salary remains comparatively low, with assistant professors being the only job category to be paid above the national average. Instructors fare even worse — paid less than the bottom 20 percent of instructors nationally.
Those numbers only reflect salary and do not take into account benefits like retirement and health insurance. In total compensation the University ranks better, with instructors the only job category to fall below the national average compensation.
The University’s average compensation rankings don’t line up with dismal rhetoric coming from faculty and administrators about faculty retirement contributions. Faculty Senate President Kevin Cope said improper funding and the coupling of separate retirement plans has the potential to wipe out the recent merit raise. As such, the University’s compensation rankings may not stay high for long.
The AAUP survey also shows gender discrepancies between the average salaries of University faculty. Male professors are paid about $17,000 more on average than their female counterparts, according to the report. The gender differences are replicated in each job category surveyed, though are not as severe as with professors.
Salary differences is not the only area where gender differences are apparent. The number of male full-time professors at the University is four times higher than the female equivalent. Full-time instructors is the only position in which females outnumber males. This means there are more women than men in the lowest-paid job surveyed and more men in the highest-paid job surveyed.
The gender differences in faculty distribution at the University are similar to national distributions.
For public universities, the number of female professors as a percentage of total faculty is about three times less than their male counterparts.
In addition, more men occupy associate and assistant professorships than women, with women edging men out only in the number of instructors and lecturers.
The report made note of the rise in both the number of administrative positions and the salary of top-level administrators. The median salary for the president of a public university was about $425,000.
For comparison, Alexander accepted an annual salary of $600,000 last year, as reported by The Daily Reveille. It should be noted, however, Alexander works as both the chancellor of the University and president of the LSU System, which may account for his relatively higher salary.