CUPA-HR Report Provides Update on African American Faculty Representation and Pay Equity

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) has recently released a new report that outlines the current state of African American representation and pay equity among faculty across the United States. The report analyzes data from the CUPA-HR Faculty in Higher Education Survey, examining demographic data of both tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty in the 2016-2017 academic year compared to the 2022-2023 academic year. In the past seven years, there has been little improvement in the representation of Black faculty in tenure-track positions across the United States, particularly in senior faculty ranks. During the 2016-2017 academic year, African Americans represented 5.5 percent of assistant professors, 5.0 percent of associate professors, and 3.3 percent of full professors. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the share of African American tenure-track faculty only increased to 7.9 percent for assistant professors, 5.2 percent for associate professors, and 3.5 percent for full professors. White male professors are the only group whose representation grows with increases in professor rank. Overall, the study found both Black men and women faculty members’ pay is on par, or exceeded that of White male faculty members among all tenure-track professor ranks as of the 2023 academic year. Compared...