Arkansas Blog

The pay gap between male and female professors at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is widening rather than closing, a study by the Faculty Senate's financial advisory committee says.

In a report released Thursday, the committee noted that men were paid an average of $85,000 to the women's $82,000 in fiscal year 2005. In fiscal year 2007, the average for men was $94,000, compared to the women’s $89,000.

The same trend was reflected for associate and assistant professors: In 2007, male associate professors were paid an average of $73,000 and female associate professors $63,000; men assistants' average pay of $66,000 compared with women assistants' of $55,000.

The committee's study suggested that a more comprehensive study into the disparity be made that would look at salaries in disciplines within each college.

 Professors in the Walton College of Business make the highest average pay, averaging $137,139 in fiscal year 2007, compared to an average of $78,460 in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. The study said pay in divisions rank, in general, from the Business College at the top to the Law School; Engineering; Agriculture; Food and Life Sciences; Education; Architecture, and, lastly, Arts and Sciences.

The report also found that the UA pay was growing less competitive compared with faculty in the Southern University Group. The UA pay averages were 89 percent of the SUG average in fiscal year 2005 and 88 percent in fiscal year 2006. That breaks down to $95,000 in the SUG and $85,000 in the UA for 2005, and $102,000 in the SUG and $90,000 in the UA for 2006.

Imagine if they included coaches in this comparison.

-- Leslie Newell Peacock