The median age for full-time academics in Canadian universities has increased by 13 years over the previous five decades, from 38 years in 1971/1972 to 51 years in 2021/2022.
At the same time, women's representation in academia has more than tripled. In 1971/1972, over 1 in 10 academics (12.7%) were women. By 2021/2022, this proportion had increased to over 4 in 10 (42.1%). In 2021/2022, more men are in the cohort of professors nearing retirement age. As this group retires, the share of women may increase further, as they are more represented in the younger cohorts of academics.
On January 23, Statistics Canada is releasing new data on academic teaching staff from the Full-Time University and College Academic Staff System for the 2021/2022 academic year. This includes information for 111 public degree-granting institutions with 47,799 full-time academic teaching staff in 2021/2022.
