Female faculty members at NIU receive a lower salary rate than their male counterparts, and fewer women than men are hired for jobs requiring high academic responsibilities, stated the American Association of University Professors’ 1986-87 annual report.

On the average, women faculty members annually are paid $2,000 less than men, according to the report.

For example, the average salary of an NIU male professor is $43,500, while a female professor receives only about $41,300, about a $2,500 difference. A female associate professor earns about $31,200, while a male is paid about $3,400 more, or $34,600, the report stated.

The pay gap is less in the lower ranks. The salary of a male assistant professor is $28,200—about $1,900 more than a female. The gap is closed when it comes to the salaries of instructors, with both sexes earning the same amount.

Last year NIU hired 298 male professors compared to only 32 female professors, according to the report. Out of 267 associate professors hired last year, 210 were men, and 65 more male assistant professors were appointed than female. Conversely, 96 female instructors were hired in comparison to 50 male instructors.

Associate Provost Frank Nowik said the figures are accurate and are consistant throughout the nation. He said the salary difference is a result of men and women choosing different disciplines in which to work. The problem is not based on sex discrimination, he said.

“We have to look at the data in terms of all of the factors which make up the analysis,” Nowik said. Qualifications, experience, job position, teaching load and the number of published works are the main reasons for a pay difference between two people, he said.

owever, Sharon Howard, director of university resources for women, said she thinks women are clearly at a disadvantage.

oward said she was surprised the pay gap was not wider. She said women usually are hired for low paying and temporary jobs. Women know they will earn a lower salary, but the need compels them to accept the lower-paying job, she said.

“People try to express their resentment after they are reasonably secured (in their job),” she said. “People are also afraid of making too much noise because it is likely to affect their tenure and promotion.”

oward said many employees do not know there is a salary gap between the sexes because the data are not volunteered to them. She said female job applicants who are offered a job at a given salary might not know the rate offered to a male in the same position.

Sue Mellard, chairman of the Presidential Commission on Women Task Force, refused to comment.