The influence of gender on faculty salaries in the United States, 1969-89

This study estimates the earnings differential between the male and female faculty in the United States over a period of two decades (1969-1989). Five micro-level data sets are used for this purpose. A modified version of the widely used Oaxaca model is used in the estimations. It is found that the racial earnings gap narrowed considerably more than did the gender earnings differential over this period. A higher male-female earnings gap at the professor level relative to junior ranks suggests that relatively recent entrants in the academic labour market face a less discriminatory environment than did their predecessors. A controversial finding is that the 'discriminatory component of the earnings differential between male and female faculty fell between 1969 and 1984, but rose thereafter.