At the Black Colleges, Faculty Salaries Are Lower But There Is Greater Gender Equity in Pay

Women’s pay in the academic world and in the workplace as a whole is generally lower than the pay given to men. Overall, women faculty members of all races earn about 80 percent of male faculty members.

A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia, published in the scholarly journal Gender & Society, examines the gender and racial differences in faculty pay between historically black and predominantly white colleges and universities during the 2001-02 academic year. The research shows that, as expected, both men and women employed at HBCUs earn less than their counterparts at predominantly white colleges and universities. But the pay gap between men and women at predominantly white colleges and universities is double the gender pay gap that exists at the black colleges and universities. The authors suggest that black male academics are becoming a rare commodity in the academic world and, therefore, there is a great deal of competition for their services at predominantly white universities. This in turn leads to higher salaries for black men at predominantly white colleges and universities.

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