Faculty demographics statistics show who teaches at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, how representation differs by academic rank, and how employment conditions vary by gender, race, institution type, and appointment status. NCES reported 859,825 full-time faculty members in fall 2023, while AAUP data for the same fall provide a more detailed view of women, faculty of color, and institutional sectors. The figures below identify the source and period for each measure.
Contents
- Faculty totals and academic rank
- Gender distribution across ranks
- Race and ethnicity among faculty
- Representation by institution and appointment
- Faculty salaries and gender pay gaps
- Tenure systems and tenure rates
Faculty totals and academic rank
The NCES Digest of Education Statistics reported 837,024 full-time faculty members at degree-granting postsecondary institutions in fall 2021. The total rose to 841,936 in fall 2022 and 859,825 in fall 2023. These are counts of full-time faculty, not a measure of every person teaching in higher education.
NCES Digest table 315.20 counted the following full-time faculty by rank in fall 2023:
- 192,300 professors
- 162,356 associate professors
- 179,554 assistant professors
- 98,075 instructors
- 47,696 lecturers
- 179,844 faculty in the “other faculty” category
The comparable fall 2022 counts were 189,472 professors, 162,183 associate professors, 178,188 assistant professors, 94,053 instructors, 47,165 lecturers, and 170,875 other faculty. In fall 2021, the counts were 188,545 professors, 162,034 associate professors, 176,878 assistant professors, 96,452 instructors, 46,309 lecturers, and 166,806 other faculty.
The three-year figures show that the largest reported rank category in fall 2023 was professor, followed by other faculty and assistant professor. Rank categories should be read as the classifications used by NCES; they are not interchangeable with job titles or contract types at every institution.
Gender distribution across ranks
NCES counted 439,934 full-time male faculty members and 419,891 full-time female faculty members in fall 2023. In fall 2022, the corresponding counts were 434,351 male and 407,585 female faculty. In fall 2021, there were 435,078 male and 401,946 female faculty.
The rank-level counts show that gender representation varied substantially by rank. The following table uses NCES Digest table 315.20 counts for fall 2023.
| Rank | Male faculty | Female faculty |
|---|---|---|
| Professor | 120,390 | 71,910 |
| Associate professor | 84,281 | 78,075 |
| Assistant professor | 81,530 | 98,024 |
| Instructor | 41,814 | 56,261 |
| Lecturer | 20,946 | 26,750 |
| Other faculty | 90,973 | 88,871 |
The same pattern was visible in the preceding years. In fall 2022, NCES counted 120,057 male professors and 69,415 female professors; 84,857 male associate professors and 77,326 female associate professors; and 81,337 male assistant professors and 96,851 female assistant professors. In fall 2021, the counts were 120,937 male professors and 67,608 female professors; 85,438 male associate professors and 76,596 female associate professors; and 81,454 male assistant professors and 95,424 female assistant professors.
For instructors, fall 2022 included 40,130 men and 53,923 women, while fall 2021 included 41,257 men and 55,195 women. For lecturers, fall 2022 included 20,649 men and 26,516 women, compared with 20,164 men and 26,145 women in fall 2021. The “other faculty” category included 87,321 men and 83,554 women in fall 2022, and 85,828 men and 80,978 women in fall 2021.
AAUP’s Data Snapshot: Women and Faculty of Color reported that women made up 37.2% of full professors in fall 2023. Women represented 54.5% of assistant professors, 58.6% of instructors, and 56.1% of lecturers in that fall. These AAUP percentages describe representation within the specified ranks, while the NCES figures above are counts.
Race and ethnicity among faculty
NCES Digest table 315.20 reported that 219,000 full-time faculty members were non-White or nonresident in fall 2023, representing 28.4% of the total after excluding faculty whose race or ethnicity was unknown. The comparable figure was 209,651, or 27.6%, in fall 2022, and 202,360, or 26.6%, in fall 2021. The percentages use the stated exclusion for race or ethnicity unknown and should not be treated as a percentage of an unspecified denominator.
NCES’s Characteristics of Postsecondary Faculty reported the following distribution of full-time faculty in fall 2022:
- White faculty: 72%, including 35% White women and 37% White men
- Asian faculty: 13%, including 6% Asian women and 7% Asian men
- Black faculty: 7%, including 4% Black women and 3% Black men
- Hispanic faculty: 6%, including 3% Hispanic women and 3% Hispanic men
- Faculty of two or more races: 1%
- American Indian or Alaska Native faculty: less than one-half of 1%
- Pacific Islander faculty: less than one-half of 1%
The same NCES source reported that White men represented 39% of professor-rank faculty and Asian men represented 8%. Among nonprofessor-rank faculty, White men represented 33% and Asian men represented 5%. Hispanic women represented 3% of professor-rank faculty and 4% of nonprofessor-rank faculty.
AAUP’s Data Snapshot: Women and Faculty of Color reported that underrepresented minorities made up 9.1% of full professors in fall 2023. That included 4.5% Hispanic or Latino faculty and 4.2% Black or African American faculty. Because the NCES and AAUP measures use different source tables and category definitions, their percentages should be compared as labeled rather than combined.
Representation by institution and appointment
AAUP reported different representation patterns by institutional category in fall 2023. At Research I universities, women were 44.7% of full-time faculty, and underrepresented minorities were 10.2%. The Research I underrepresented-minority figure included 5.5% Hispanic or Latino faculty and 4.2% Black or African American faculty. At associate’s colleges, women were 55.5% of full-time faculty.
Appointment status also varied by demographic group. In fall 2023, 54.6% of women faculty were on full-time appointments, compared with 60.7% of men. The corresponding shares were 50.1% for underrepresented-minority faculty, 56.2% for White faculty, and 73.6% for Asian faculty.
Among full-time faculty, AAUP reported that 52.1% of women were on tenured or tenure-track appointments in fall 2023. The share was 62.2% for men, 55.9% for underrepresented-minority faculty, 56.6% for White faculty, and 65.3% for Asian faculty.
AAUP also reported that White men made up 46.0% of full professors in fall 2023. These figures describe representation and appointment status in the AAUP measures; they do not by themselves explain why the percentages differ across ranks or institution types.
Faculty salaries and gender pay gaps
NCES’s Characteristics of Postsecondary Faculty reported an average full-time instructional faculty salary of $97,700 on 9-month contracts in academic year 2022–23. Average salaries by rank were $135,300 for professors, $95,900 for associate professors, $82,500 for assistant professors, $75,300 for instructors, and $71,200 for lecturers.
The same NCES source reported an average salary of $105,800 for men and $89,000 for women. Reported male-female salary gaps were $20,400 at the professor rank, $7,100 for associate professors, $7,200 for assistant professors, $3,300 for instructors, and $5,200 for lecturers.
Institutional sector was also associated with different average salaries in academic year 2022–23:
| Institution type | Average salary |
|---|---|
| Private nonprofit | $107,000 |
| Public | $94,000 |
| Private for-profit | $63,500 |
| Private nonprofit 4-year doctoral | $122,500 |
| Public 4-year doctoral | $105,300 |
| Private nonprofit 4-year, other than doctoral and master’s | $83,800 |
| Public 4-year master’s | $82,200 |
| Private nonprofit 4-year master’s | $79,200 |
| Public 2-year | $77,900 |
| Public 4-year, other than doctoral | $76,100 |
| Private nonprofit 2-year | $69,100 |
AAUP’s Data Snapshot: Women and Faculty of Color reported that women’s average full-time faculty salary was 84.1% of men’s across all ranks combined in 2023–24. In fall 2023, women earned $20,599 less than men on average at the professor rank, a 14.1% difference. At Research I universities, women earned $27,474 less than men on average, a 19.5% difference. AAUP also reported that women’s average full-time faculty salaries were 82.6% of men’s in 2023–24; this separately labeled measure should be retained as reported rather than merged with the all-ranks figure.
Tenure systems and tenure rates
In academic year 2022–23, about 57% of degree-granting postsecondary institutions had tenure systems, according to NCES’s Characteristics of Postsecondary Faculty. Tenure systems were reported at 99% of public doctoral institutions and at 1% of private for-profit institutions.
Among full-time faculty at institutions with tenure systems, 44% had tenure in 2022–23. The comparable rate was 49% in 2011–12, a decline of 5 percentage points over the period. By institution sector, the tenure rate fell from 31% to 9% at private for-profit institutions, from 51% to 46% at public institutions, and from 44% to 39% at private nonprofit institutions between 2011–12 and 2022–23.
Gender differences were also reported for full-time faculty at institutions with tenure systems. In 2022–23, 53% of male faculty had tenure, compared with 40% of female faculty. These rates refer to faculty at institutions with tenure systems, not to all full-time faculty at every degree-granting institution.
AAUP’s fall 2023 appointment data provide a related measure: 62.2% of full-time men faculty and 52.1% of full-time women faculty were on tenured or tenure-track appointments. Tenure and tenure-track status are not identical measures, so the NCES tenure rates and AAUP appointment shares should be read separately.