Are there racial differences in faculty salaries?

Many studies have used micro-level data in estimating earnings differentials by gender for college professors. None has studied racial earnings differences for faculty except by employing a dummy variable for race in its regression models. The availability of the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty has made such a study possible. We use a variant of the Oaxaca decomposition technique suggested by Cotton (1988) and Neumark (1988). Although the salaries of black faculty trail those of their white counterparts at the Associate and Full Professor levels, the reverse is true at the Assistant Professor level. The increased emphasis in recent years on increasing diversification in the racial composition of college faculty are possible explanations. The authors are indebted to various colleagues for comments on earlier drafts. They also wish to thank an anonymous referee who suggested significant changes to this article. The authors remain responsible for any remaining errors or omissions.