Golden Apples to Platinum Oranges: The Intricacies of Academic Remuneration

This interesting international look at who gets paid what, for what, is divided up with labels such as "Some Academics Are Less Equal Than Others" and "For Other Professors, More is Required."

How can we comprehend academic salaries? Does the sum paid monthly to a professor constitute his or her full remuneration? Our research on international comparisons of academic salaries found major variations among countries. Differences exist as well within countries—by rank, discipline, and other factors. In some countries, salaries are determined by an individual’s age, length of employment, rank, and often by civil service rules—without much cognizance of productivity or academic accomplishment. Indeed, in much of the world, academics are paid on the basis of their length of service and rank alone. In other countries, particularly in some of the newer private universities, salary structures are far from transparent.

The full-time professoriate—probably a global minority of the academic profession overall, since in many countries part-timers dominate the academic system—is divided by role, function, type of institution, and discipline. As interpreted by sociologist Burton Clark, the academic profession is divided by “small worlds, different worlds.” Academics are also divided by salaries. In many countries, faculty in private universities earn more than their counterparts in public institutions. Our research shows significant variations by rank. Not surprisingly, in our study of 15 countries, senior professors earned on average significantly more than junior staff.