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Race/ethnicity of college faculty

Question:
Do you have any information on the race/ethnicity of college and university faculty?

Response:

In fall 2021, of the 1.5 million faculty at degree-granting postsecondary institutions, 56 percent were full time and 44 percent were part time. Faculty include professors, associate professors, assistant professors, instructors, lecturers, assisting professors, adjunct professors, and interim professors.

Considering full-time faculty only,1 in fall 2021,

The racial/ethnic and sex distribution of full-time instructional faculty varied by academic rank at degree-granting postsecondary institutions in fall 2021. Professor and associate professor are higher academic ranks, which are usually tenured, meaning that they cannot be terminated without just cause. Assistant professor is typically an entry-level position, which can lead to higher ranks. Instructor and lecturer are typically lower ranks with no potential for tenure. In 2021, White male and Asian male faculty made up higher percentages of faculty in the higher ranks (tenure-track) than they did in the lower ranks (non-tenure-track).2 Specifically, 40 percent of tenure-track faculty were White males and 8 percent were Asian males. Meanwhile, 34 percent of non-tenure-track faculty were White males and 5 percent were Asian males. Other groups made up similar or lower percentages of faculty in the higher ranks than in the lower ranks. For example, Hispanic females made up 2 percent of faculty in tenure-track ranks and 4 percent in non-tenure-track ranks.


1 Percentages are based on full-time faculty whose race/ethnicity was known. Race/ethnicity was not collected for faculty who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Percentages do not sum to totals because of rounding.
2 Tenure-track faculty include professors, associate professors, and assistant professors. Non-tenure-track faculty include instructors, lecturers, and those who were primarily research or public service faculty, as well as faculty without ranks.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2023). Characteristics of Postsecondary Faculty. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved August 30, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/csc.

Numbers in figure titles reflect original numeration from source Condition of Education indicators.

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