Why Untenured Faculty Should Be Paid More Than Tenured Faculty

Today's Inside Higher Ed:  Why Assistant Professors Should Earn More Than the Tenured, by James D. Miller (Smith College, Department of Economics):

Although it is far from the norm, a few colleges pay their assistant professors more on average than they do their tenured professors. Although such pay scales might harm the egos of tenured professors, they can benefit colleges.

Organizations often pay high salaries to (1) attract new employees, (2) keep existing employees, (3) compensate workers for unpleasant working conditions and (4) compensate workers for taking on risks. These four criteria support colleges giving relatively higher salaries to assistant professors.