Collateral Damage: Effects of the Pandemic on Academe, Continued. Higher Education. Volume 40, No. 1. Faculty Salary Analysis: 2021-22

In this 2023 NEA Special Salary issue, a post-pandemic look at faculty salaries in 2022. What was found, looking at federal data, is that U.S. faculty's purchasing power--that is the value of your salary, considering inflation--is at historical lows. All the gains that were made incrementally since the Great Recession of 2008 have evaporated in pandemic-related inflation. This year's analysis also shows persistent gaps in pay for HBCU faculty and for women, in general, who typically work in the lowest paid ranks in the lowest-paid types of institutions. On the bright side, this issue's Special Salary issue also points to one possible solution. The data shows clearly that faculty represented by unions are paid more. In other words, the solution to low pay can be found in the power of your voices, raised together, in union.