1998-99 SALARY SURVEY RESULTS

New Faculty Hiring Up 30.0 Percent; Salaries Up Only Slightly

Results of AACSB's 1998-99 Salary Survey show that new faculty hiring overall this year is up by a whopping 30.0 percent, following a rise of 17.8 percent last year.  Hiring of new assistant professors rose 32.7 percent compared to a 26.5 percent rise last year, while hiring of instructors rose 53.8 percent following a 14.7 percent increase.  ABDs also were up by 10.9 percent compared to the 14.3 increase experienced last year.

Some deans say the big increase in hiring is due, in part, to schools having to replace retiring and/or resigning faculty.  " I don't think it is raw expansion in too many cases," said Louis E. Lataif, dean of the School of Management at Boston University.  "I suspect it is replacement, a demographic phenomenon of an aging faculty pool."

Others point to the push to add new programs and the need for more faculty to staff them.  According to David H. Blake, business dean at the University of California, Irvine, business schools have had to become much more aggressive in finding new sources of income through new programs requiring additional faculty.   "As state funds dry up and as there is more competition for 'soft' dollars, schools have developed new programs to generate additional funds," he said.   "Further, there are more markets for more specific industry-focused programs, which some schools are taking advantage of."  Most doubt that the increase is uniform across schools or even concentrated in certain segments.  "Some schools do not wish to get into the customized business, but prefer to do even better what they already do very well," said Blake.  "I suspect that the retirement issues are not uniform, either."

The survey shows that new professors are up by 53.6 percent this year. Last year, new professors experienced no increase or decrease in hiring.  New doctorates were up 2.8 percent and associate professors rose 54.7 percent. Last year, new doctorates experienced a 15.7 percent increase while associate professors increased by 12.3 percent.

Why is there a 53 percent increase for new professors but almost a status quo for new doctorates?

" In our case, we're looking for new faculty who have meaningful real-world experience," said Thomas J. Murrin, business dean at Duquesne University.  "That's something usually not found in new doctorates."  According to Lataif, "The same demographics probably are at work here.  The bulge of faculty hired in the early 1980s during a period of general expansion of the college-age population now are approaching sufficient seniority to stand for full professor.  That is something we have experienced at our school."

Competitive pressures and individual career decisions are leading to greater movement at the assistant professor level than in the past, said Blake.   "More assistant professors are willing to move before the tenure decision to accept better or more compatible positions," he said.  "And there is a market for them at this time.  In reality, a school is taking somewhat of a reduced risk by hiring an assistant with several years of experience than one right out of graduate school.  Further, this is a way for junior faculty to buy additional time before facing a tenure decision."

Business faculty salaries overall averaged 4.1 percent increase this year, down slightly from 4.9 percent a year ago.  Average nine-month salaries for all faculty rose from $71,000 last year to $73,900 this year.  Pay increases averaged 4.3 percent for full professors, to $89,500, 4.0 percent for associate professors, to $70,200, 4.5 percent for assistant professors, to $65,500, and 2.7 percent for instructors, to $42,600.  New doctorates experienced a 5.7 percent pay increase, to $68,100.

The annual survey is the 31st  such survey conducted by AACSB.  There were 460 schools that voluntarily participated in the survey, which includes data on 23,586 faculty members and 3,670 administrators.

All AACSB educational member representatives received a copy of the survey in January.  Additional copies are available for $25 by contacting AACSB.

Summary of 1998-99 AACSB Salary Survey Results

1998-99Business Faculty Salaries By Discipline

1998-99 Business Salaries For Administrative Personnel