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New research from CUPA-HR on the state of the professional workforce in higher education shows that women and people of color are not only being paid less than White men in the same position but also are less likely to hold higher-paying positions.
CUPA-HR’s research team analyzed data from the ” Professionals in Higher Education Survey,” a comprehensive data source that collects salary and demographic data on more than 293,000 professionals in 409 positions from approximately 985 higher ed institutions. The team evaluated representation and pay equity for women and professionals of color from 2016-17 to 2023-24.
The Findings
- Women and people of color have lower representation among six-figure (paid more than $100,000) jobs in comparison to all other professional jobs. White men held 40% of six-figure jobs but held 28% of jobs paying less than $100,000.
- Pay equity has improved slightly for women over the past eight years, but women of most races and ethnicities are still paid less than White men. Except for Asian women, women of all other examined races and ethnicities were paid less than White men in 2023-24.
- Over the past eight years, the representation of people of color increased among higher ed professionals. The increase in the representation of women of color was more than double the increase in the representation of men of color.
The representation of people of color increased from 22% of professionals in 2016-17 to 26% of professionals in 2023-24. During this time, women of color had more than two times the increase in their representation than did men of color (26% increase for women versus 10% increase for men).
- Older women experience greater pay gaps than younger women. Women over age 42 had larger pay gaps relative to White men than did women age 42 or younger.
Explore the interactive graphics and read the full report, “The Higher Ed Professional Workforce: Composition and Pay Equity by Gender and Race/Ethnicity From 2016-17 to 2023-24.”
Read the original press release, published July 18 on CUPA-HR’s news site.
CUPA-HR is the recognized authority on compensation surveys for higher education, with its workforce surveys designed by higher ed HR professionals for higher ed HR professionals and other campus leaders. CUPA-HR has been collecting data on the higher ed workforce for more than 50 years, and we maintain one of the largest workforce databases in existence. CUPA-HR also publishes numerous research publications and interactive graphics highlighting trends and issues around higher ed workforce planning, pay equity, representation of women and racial/ethnic minorities and more.
