Women in Academia
- Women held 23.0% of president positions at all colleges, and men held 77.0% in 2006, according to the most recent survey by the American Council on Education.1
- Women held 26.6% of all college president positions at public institutions. 2
- Women held 18.7% of all college president positions at private institutions. 3
- People of color comprised only 13.6% of all college president positions. 4
- As of March 2011, women held the president position at four of the eight Ivy League schools (Ruth Simmons at Brown University, Drew Gilpin Faust at Harvard University, Shirley M. Tilghman at Princeton University, and Amy Gutmann at the University of Pennsylvania).5
- Women had fewer and lower percentages of tenure positions than men at doctoral, masters, and bachelor’s institutions.6
- Women occupied more non-tenure track positions than tenure track positions, and men overwhelmingly comprised the majority of tenured faculty. 7
As with corporate America, the percentage of women in academic positions drops off the higher they climb. 8
- There are many women in the pipeline to presidential positions at universities, but few people of color.
- Women (of all races/ethnicities) made up 45% of senior administrators and 38% of chief academic officers.13
- People of color were only 16% of senior leader positions and 10% of chief academic officer positions. 14
- Women faculty members earn less than men faculty members across all ranks and all institutional types. On average, women earn 80 percent of what men earn.15
| Position | Percent of Men’s Salary that Women Make |
| Professor3 | 87.8% |
| Associate Professor3 | 93.1% |
| Assistant Professor3 | 92.7% |
| Instructor4 | 96.0% |
| Lecturer4 | 90.0% |
| All Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor Positions3 |
80.7% |
Women continue to earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees, and are projected to earn in the majority of master’s years. Women earned 60.6% of master’s degrees and 51% of doctorate degrees for 2007-2008. For the class of 2018-2019, women are projected to earn 62.0% of master’s degrees and 54.9% of doctorate degrees.22
SOURCES
1 American Council on Education, The American College President 2007 (2007).
2 American Council on Education, The American College President 2007 (2007).
3 American Council on Education, The American College President 2007 (2007).
4 American Council on Education, The American College President 2007 (2007).
5 Catalyst research (2011). Ivy League schools are considered to be Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale.
6 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006).
7 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006).
8 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006).
9 American Council on Education, The American College President 2007 (2007).
10 American Association of University Professors, "Faculty Salary and Faculty Distribution Fact Sheet 2003-04."
11 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006). 12 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics (2009).
13 Audrey Williams June, "Pipeline to Presidencies Carries Lots of Women, Few Members of Minority Groups," Chronicle of Higher Education (February 15, 2008).
14 Audrey Williams June, "Pipeline to Presidencies Carries Lots of Women, Few Members of Minority Groups," Chronicle of Higher Education (February 15, 2008).
15 American Association of University Professors, "Faculty Salary and Faculty Distribution Fact Sheet 2003-04."
16 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006).
17 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006).
18 Martha S. West and John W. Curtis, American Association of University Professors, AAUP Faculty Gender Equity Indicators 2006 (2006).
19 American Association of University Professors, "Faculty Salary and Faculty Distribution Fact Sheet 2003-04."
20 American Association of University Professors, "Faculty Salary and Faculty Distribution Fact Sheet 2003-04."
21 American Association of University Professors, "Faculty Salary and Faculty Distribution Fact Sheet 2003-04."
22 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics (2009).
UPDATED March 23, 2011
