Administrators Composition and Pay Equity by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
CUPA-HR’s signature surveys collect data on composition and pay equity on all higher ed administrator, faculty, professional, and staff positions. To explore trends in composition and pay equity for custom comparison groups or specific positions, subscribe to DataOnDemand.
Administrators are leaders who manage a higher ed institution or a division within it. These interactive graphics depict composition and pay equity by gender and race/ethnicity for higher ed administrators over time.
Composition of Administrators by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Key Findings: The representation of people of color in administrative roles increased by 51% between 2011-12 and 2023-24 through steady year-to-year growth. Women of color had more than double the percentage increase in representation than men of color (69% increase for women versus 31% increase for men). White women have had only a slight increase in representation since 2011-12. Due to these increases, people of most races/ethnicities now have similar representation among higher ed administrators as among U.S. graduate degree holders.* Asian and Hispanic or Latina/o people continue to have lower representation among higher ed administrators than among U.S. graduate degree holders.*
Navigating the Chart: Click the labels in the legend to remove data from view, and then select a specific year or the “Animate All Years” button to see how percentages have changed over time. For example, to see the percentage of women in these positions, click “Men” in the legend to remove men from the graphic.
Click here for a closer look at this data for Presidents, Provosts and CHROs. (members-only data)
Median Pay Ratios for Administrators by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Key Findings: Pay disparities for women administrators of all races/ethnicities pictured persist in 2023-24 and do not show consistent improvement over time. All female administrators except for Asian women continue to receive lower salaries than White men (and Asian women are paid lower salaries than are Asian men). Conversely, men of color are paid salaries greater than those of White men.
Navigating the Chart: Click the “Animate All Years” button to note the progress made in terms of pay equity for men of color (solid dots). Note as well the lack of progress in pay equity for women (open dots).
Click here for a closer look at this data for Presidents, Provosts and CHROs. (members-only data)
Methodology
Data were collected in CUPA-HR’s Administrators in Higher Education Survey with an effective date of November 1 of each academic year. (For these charts, the academic year is denoted with the last part of the year, e.g., 2024 is academic year 2023-24). Analyses include only non-profit institutions of higher education; each year of data includes data from at least 893 colleges and universities and at least 33,861 administrators.
Median pay ratios control for position. Median salaries by race/ethnicity and sex for each administrator position were obtained; then the median of those medians was calculated by race/ethnicity and sex. Finally, each group’s median salary was divided by the median salary of White men to calculate the pay ratio. This controls for the fact that women and people of color may be represented differently in specific positions that pay higher or lower salaries, and it means that the wage gaps present are not explained by the fact that women or people of color may have greater representation in lower-paying positions.
*Graduate degree comparative data obtained from IPUMS. Most administrator positions surveyed require a graduate degree.