Survey: Physiology Faculty Pay Increases Keep Pace With Inflation

The mean salary paid to physiology faculty working in both public and private institutions rose at or above inflation levels in 1993-94 from the levels of the previous academic year, according to a survey issued recently by the Association of Chairmen of Departments of Physiology. The president of the association, Robert Foreman, is chairman of the physiology department at the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. Among the findings were that the mean salary paid to the 615 full professorsrepresented by the departments that responded increased by 3.6 percent, to $87,589. The 96 chairmen of those departments were paid a mean salary of $124,973, a 2.4 percent gain. Mean pay for the 382 associate professors was $63,848, up 4.4 percent. Inflation, by comparison, is generally recognized to be about 3 percent. The results are greeted with guarded optimism by several department chairmen and professors. They cite a number of reasons for the salary increases, including the need of some schools to compensate for lean years when pay raises were meager or nonexistent. "At public schools, there has been a game of catch-up," says John Solaro, who chairs the physiology and biology department at the University of Illinois in Chicago. "So salaries, in general, have been steadily going up." The survey, which included pre- and postdoctoral trainees, also found that the average annual starting stipend was $12,508 for predoctoral scientists and $24,337 for postdocs. This represents a 3.5 percent increase for predoctoral stipends and a 4.6 percent increase for postdoctoral stipends--both ahead of inflation. Other information obtained in the survey revealed that higher mean salaries were paid in the Northeastern United States. In that region, the mean for department chairpersons was $134,026, compared with $122,719 in the Midwest, $132,484 in the South, and $123,896 in the West. In Canada and Puerto Rico, the comparable figure was $73,221 in U.S. dollars. Likewise, professors in the Northeast received mean pay of $98,199, compared with $83,830 in the Midwest, $85,402 in the South, and $91,296 in the West. 'GAME OF CATCH-UP': U. Illinois department chairman Joh Solaro notes that public schools are compensating for past lean years. The association examined salaries from July 1993 to June 1994 for its annual survey. Responses were received from 101 physiology departments in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Seventy of the responding institutions were public schools. Departments were queried at public and private medical schools, as well as so-called non-medical institutions, which are two-year and four-year schools offering only undergraduate or associate degrees. The findings were published in The Physiologist, 38(3):85-91, 1995. Illinois' Solaro observes that some institutions may be paying higher salaries to retain key individuals who could otherwise be lost through cutbacks. This might be creating a skewing effect, since only a small number of faculty are receiving substantially higher pay. "It's a possible side effect of all the downsizing," Solaro explains. "I know that in our state, there's been a legislative struggle for increases," notes association president Foreman. "Last year, we were flat." Another explanation for rising pay, according to these observers, might be that many physiologists receive external research funding, some of which provides built-in increases each year. Such grant monies were factored into most of the survey responses. Moreover, there's the growing prominence of molecular biology, which may be translating into increased competition between academia and industry for physiologists, who are highly trained in many biological disciplines, including molecular biology. "It's received a lot of attention over the last few years, and now there may be greater interest in incorporating that into physiology," says Foreman. "That may have an impact [on salaries]. I see it as a trend." Comments Solaro: "One of the hot buzzwords is `integrative biology' [incorporating several disciplines], and physiologists are positioned very well. It's become the way to go. These people who [have been] doing work at the fringes [of the biological marketplace] are really sought after and could be part of retention or recruitment efforts." This may help explain the increases in median pay for the various faculty. The 288 assistant professors, for instance, earned a mean salary of $50,999, which amounted to a 7.6 percent increase over the previous school year. "There are more assistant professors being hired than full professors," notes Ian Phillips, who chairs the physiology department at the College of Medicine at the University of Florida. "And I think the reason for the increase [in salary] is that, when people hire, they try to hire at as high a rate as possible" to attract top talent. Among the categories of faculty examined in the report, one--the 36, nontenure-track instructors--did not fare very well. The mean pay for instructors at all schools was $30,551, a 14.4 percent decrease from the 1992-93 level. At public medical schools, the median pay was $29,177, which was a 19.8 percent drop. Solaro says the decline isn't surprising, given the perspective of the schools, which can take advantage of the cheaper labor force. In addition, he notes, the instructors have reasons of their own for accepting the positions: "People are using this position as an extended postdoctoral training. With the job market tight, people might want to ratchet up a bit in terms of teaching and job experience. So maybe they're adding a title, but not much more money.'' By contrast, one of the biggest gains reported was by chairwomen of physiology departments, who received median pay of $94,987, which amounted to a 12.3 percent increase. This figure, however, is well below the $124,973 mean given chairmen. The disparity, however, may be due to the fact that women have not been heading these departments as long as men, as well as to the very small number of women holding this position--just three female department chairs of 96 total chairpersons responding to the survey. (Some of the 101 departments had interim chairpersons, who weren't counted in the results of the study.) Additionally, many of the women in these departments may also be younger and, therefore, further down the salary scales from where their male colleagues are situated. "In general, within more senior ranks, women tend to be younger and have spent less time in faculty jobs," says Phyllis Wise, chairwoman of the physiology department at the University of Kentucky medical school in Lexington. "But in most universities, there's an annual cost-of-living adjustment and merit increases. Therefore, I would hope everyone is very sensitized to the notion of equal pay for equal work," she adds. "I'd hope over the next five years that there'd be a narrowing of pay differences." Solaro of the University of Illinois observes: "Aside from the fact that these women are relatively new department heads, they're not in the biggest cities, meaning they may be located in relatively cheap places to live." In addition to the department headed by Wise, the other two female-headed physiology departments are at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond and the University of Texas in Lubbock. Comments Phillips of the University of Florida: "I honestly believe that there's no built-in prejudice. In fact, I think most schools would love to hire a female chairperson." Edward R. Silverman is a freelance writer based in Millburn, N.J. (The Scientist, Vol:9, #17, pg.16 , September 4, 1995) (Copyright © The Scientist, Inc.)

Survey: Physiology Faculty Pay Increases Keep Pace With Inflation

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