Academic and private sector salaries: chalk and cheese?

Abstract

This paper utilizes evidence from the Association of University Teachers advanced to support the 1996 claim for increased remuneration for their members in the UK higher education sector. The study specifically focuses upon the determinants of pay for academic staff and a comparative series of private sector professions within a human capital theory framework. Following the estimation of an earnings function with respect to education and training, examination of the actual and estimated salary levels indicates that the degree of incomparability between academics and the nominated private sector occupations is not of the magnitude suggested by the AUT. These findings have implications for strategies, such as a pay review body, which have been proposed to alleviate supposed pay discrepancies relating to academic staff in British universities.