HEW Says Women Faculty Paid Less

Full-time women faculty members earn an average of $2500 less annually than their male counterparts, according to a Department of Health, Education, and Welfare report released today.

Women comprise 22.5 per cent of all full-time college and university faculty members on nine- and ten-month contracts, the report says.

The survey, submitted by HEW's Office of Education, said that only 9.7 per cent of female faculty members hold tenured positions, while one-fourth of the male faculty in public and private institutions of higher learning are professors.

The percentage of women among full-time faculty members of all ranks has risen only 1.6 per cent in the last ten years, making the current figure 20.6 per cent. Women now make up one-fifth of the total number of faculty in higher education.

The sharpest increase in female faculty members has been at the lowest level, that of instructor. Ten years ago, one-third of all instructors were women, compared with 43.5 per cent this year.