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Vital Signs

The Face of Nursing Faculty 2001-2002: Still White and Female

Despite the efforts of many of the nation’s nursing schools to recruit more minorities and men into their faculty ranks over the past year, a new report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) paints a disappointing picture of the continued lack of diversity in the world of nursing academia.

According to the recently published 2001-2002 edition of Salaries of Instructional and Administrative Nursing Faculty in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, a survey of more than 500 schools nationwide, America’s full-time nursing faculty as a whole continues to be 90% Caucasian and 96% female, showing virtually no change from 2000-2001. Moreover, the racial homogeneity of nursing educators is evident across the board: 91.7% of administrative faculty and 90.2% of instructional faculty are white, respectively.

As for the racial and gender diversity of nursing school deans, the numbers are even worse. The survey’s companion volume, 2001-2002 Salaries of Deans in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, reports that 92.6% of deans are white and 97.6% are women.

However, the two surveys do contain some good news when it comes to faculty salary trends. Mean salaries for full-time nursing faculty at nearly all ranks and degree levels rose modestly in the 2001-2002 academic year. Salaries ranged from a low of $24,545 for instructors without doctoral degrees teaching in private institutions to a high of $165,556 for doctorally prepared professors at public institutions.

The biggest salary increases were reported by nondoctorally prepared assistant professors (up 4.2%, to $45,531) and nondoctorally prepared associate professors (up 4%, to $49, 411). The only faculty members whose salaries decreased last year were nondoctorally prepared professors (down 5.5% to $59,029) and doctorally prepared instructors (a less steep drop of 1.5%, down to $43,865).

Deans’ salaries also increased slightly in the 2001-2002 calendar year. Mean salaries reached $99,945 for AACN-member deans (up 2.3% from the previous year) and $69,492 for nonmember deans (a 0.05% increase).

To order copies of the salary surveys, contact the AACN at (202) 463-6930 or visit the Web site www.aacn.nche.edu.