Exploring Community College Faculty Inequities Between Minority-Serving and Predominantly-White Institutions

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

Since their inception, research has found that many Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) are under-resourced when compared to Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), resulting in institutional stressors including high turnover of faculty. However, no studies have explored faculty salaries inequities between faculty working in MSI community colleges versus PWI community colleges. As a result, this study leverages 10 years of instructional faculty salary data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from roughly 1,400 U.S. community colleges to explore salary inequities between MSIs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities or HBCUs, Tribal Colleges, Hispanic-Serving Institutions or HSIs, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions or AANAPISIs) and PWI community colleges. Results suggest that, when compared to all other institution types, AANAPISIs and HSIs offer significantly higher faculty salaries but also face heavier instructional loads, while HBCUs and Tribal Colleges continue to experience persistent undercompensation and staffing challenges. Implications for research and equity between and within Minority-Serving community colleges are addressed.

Publication Title

Community College Journal of Research and Practice

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