AAUP Survey: Small Salary Hikes For Science Professors, Other Faculty

Salaries for college and university faculty rose in the 1991-92 academic year by an average of 3.5 percent, which was the smallest annual increase in more than 20 years, according to a recent survey by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). Science faculty were among those affected by the across-the-board dip in pay raises, say science professors at schools across the United States. Adjusted for inflation, the average pay hike for all faculty was 0.4 percent. Even when newly hired junior faculty, who generally are paid less than their more experienced colleagues, are excluded from the calculation, average pay for continuing faculty rose just 1.2 percent. The survey, prepared by a committee headed by Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at Michigan State University, was published in AAUP's journal, Academe (78[2]:7-89, 1992). During the past two years, according to the survey report, "the growth of real salaries has essentially stopped." The average salary for faculty with full academic rank at doctoral-level institutions was $51,080. The comparable figure was $43,440 at comprehensive schools, which, according to the survey report, are "characterized by diverse postbac-calaureate programs but do not engage in significant doctoral-level education." Average pay was $37,260 at general baccalaureate schools and $37,760 at two-year institutions. To compile the survey, AAUP collected data from 2,025 institutions around the U.S. The survey report explains that the relatively small pay increases reflected the recession, as budget cuts, especially among federal and local governments, kept salaries from rising. Faculty at private and church-related institutions received a larger average pay hike than did their counterparts at public schools, creating the largest pay disparity in the past decade, the survey also found. Salaries rose by an average of 4.7 percent at private schools, while pay increased 5.5 percent at church-related institutions. Public colleges and universities hiked faculty pay by an average of just 2.9 percent. "A lot of universities are in financial difficulties," says Jane Koretz, a biology professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "Last year, we received a 2.7 percent average raise, with only a little bit of leeway for merit. . . . A lot of universities are handling their financial problems by encouraging early retirement and keeping raises down." Indeed, AAUP found little encouraging news. The survey found that the salary of the average faculty member rose mostly as a result of collective bargaining or a move up the ladder of seniority. In science departments, many fear that salaries are lagging industry pay, which could produce a science faculty shortage in the next decade. "I have concerns," says Robert B. Carroll, a professor of plant science at the University of Delaware. "I know of a couple of cases in our college where they did want to hire some people," he says. "They made high offers and still lost them to industry. Now, there's a definite feeling that higher salaries will have to be paid to some people to keep them from going to industry." One possible mitigating circumstance, according to AAUP, is that if too great a shortage occurs, institutions will be forced to hire from a smaller pool of candidates, eventually causing a correction in faculty pay scales. Hamermesh wrote that such a scenario isn't farfetched, because later this decade many faculty members who were hired during academic expansion in the 1960s will be approaching retirement. "In five to 10 years, all hell will break loose," says Harvey Wichman, who runs the aerospace psychology laboratory at California's Claremont McKenna College. "Something on the order of 50 percent of today's faculty will retire over a 15- to 20-year period," he says. "People aren't aware how severe this retirement surge will be. And it will be exacerbated by another phenomenon--the number of people trying to get into college will increase significantly." Of course, these optimistic forecasts do little to assuage job seekers today. But science professors hold out hope for faculty who specialize in disciplines that are in demand. For instance, Delaware's Carroll cites biotechnology, as well as other areas making use of high-technology techniques, like plant genetics, as growing fields. These specialists are attractive to academic institutions not only because administrations view their disciplines as growth areas, but also because they're believed to be capable of attracting large sums of grant money, Carroll says. RPI's Koretz says that her university has been placing more emphasis on specific projects and hiring accordingly. Examples are the biochemistry and biophysics program that she heads, plus environmental science, considered a growth field. Among the survey's other findings: At public institutions, there were wide disparities among the various disciplines in average pay raises. Health and physical science professors received average salary increases of 7.8 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively, in 1991-92. Average salaries for men continue to be higher than for women. A male full professor earned an average of $59,180, while his female counterpart earned an average of $52,380. Edward R. Silverman is a freelance writer based in Hoboken, N.J.

AAUP Survey: Small Salary Hikes For Science Professors, Other Faculty

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