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Number and salaries of full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities, 2016/2017

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Released: 2017-04-25

Women account for an increasing proportion of full-time academic teaching staff in Canadian universities. Building diversity among academic teaching staff is an important consideration for universities for a number of reasons, including the increasing diversity of students and Canadian society. According to the Full-time University and College Academic Staff System (FT-UCASS), 40.2% of full-time academic teaching staff were women in 2016/2017, up from 37.6% in 2010/2011.

The FT-UCASS provides Canadians with a detailed portrait of full-time academic staff including information on how the university teaching environment is changing. The results help universities plan for the future needs of students and university academic teaching staff.

The survey was reinstated in the fall of 2016 and this marks the first time it has been conducted since the 2010/2011 academic year. This is a preliminary release of data and includes 75 of the 112 universities that reported to the survey, covering institutions all across Canada.

The overall number of full-time academic teaching staff in the 75 reporting institutions edged up 2.9% from 2010/2011. By comparison, university enrolments increased by 7.5% in these institutions from 2010/2011 to 2014/2015 (the latest year for which data are available).

From 2010/2011 to 2016/2017, the total number of full professors (+12.4%) and associate professors (+8.8%) increased. Meanwhile, the total number of assistant professors (-18.5%) and the rank below assistant professor (-2.7%) decreased.

Women lead the increase of higher rank full-time academic teaching staff

Most of the gains by women since 2010/2011 were in the higher ranks of full professor (+31.4%) and associate professor (+21.7%). The number of female assistant professors and rank below assistant, where women outnumber men, both declined, falling 14.5% and 2.0% respectively.

While still the majority, the number of men who were full professors (+6.5%) and associate professors (+0.5%) increased at a slower pace than females. Conversely, the decline in the number of men in the remaining ranks was more pronounced, with the number of male assistant professors falling by 22.0% and the ranks below assistant down by 3.5%.

Median age of academic teaching staff remains stable

One key component to planning for workforce renewal in universities and projections of demand for academic teaching staff is to look at the age profile of existing staff. Among the 75 institutions that have reported to date, the median age of full-time academic teaching staff has remained relatively constant, edging up from 50 years old in 2010/2011 to 51 in 2016/2017. As expected, the median age rose by formal rank in 2016/2017. Assistant professors had a median age of 40, associate professors 49, and for full professors the median age was 58. In comparison, the median age of the Canadian full-time working population was 42 years in 2016.

Teaching staff median salary increases

Another important input in planning and contract negotiations for universities is the portrait of salaries of teaching staff. Among the 75 institutions that have reported to date, the median salary in constant dollars of full-time academic teaching staff rose from $92,093 in 2010/2011 to $98,400 in 2016/2017, an increase of 6.8%. This gain was influenced by the increasing proportion of full-time academic teaching staff in the upper ranks. In 2016/2017, the median salary in constant dollars for full professors was $124,325, followed by associate professors ($97,423), assistant professors ($77,169) and ranks below assistant professors ($71,060).

  Note to readers

The University and College Academic Staff System (UCASS) provides Canadians with a detailed portrait of full-time academic staff, including gender, age, principal subject taught, academic rank, salary and administrative stipends, province or country of degrees earned.

Statistics Canada last released full-time-UCASS for the 2010/2011 academic year and reinstated the survey in the fall of 2016.

This is a preliminary release of data on full-time university academic teaching staff for the 2016/2017 academic year. It includes 75 of the 112 universities that reported to the survey to date, covering universities all across Canada, including almost all institutions in the Atlantic provinces and British Columbia, two-thirds of institutions in Quebec, and at least half of the institutions located in the remaining provinces. As data become available, subsequent releases will include data from the remaining universities.

In 2010/2011, the group of 75 institutions accounted for approximately 69% of the full-time academic teaching staff. Of these institutions, 51 had more than 100 academic teaching staff and selected data from these respondents at the institution level are available in CANSIM table 477-0123.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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