What's underrated about you?

This is something I've touched on before, but I honestly feel that my value as an employee is vastly underrated. It's terribly demoralizing, but since I've made the decision to hang on until I can retire in a couple of years, I try to ensure that I'm bolstered and fulfilled by other aspects of my life in the meantime. My reasons, as I see them, for feeling underrated in my job are as follows:

• It's the nature of the beast. I work in a university in a small southern town, where there's an inherent dichotomy between those employees who are faculty and those who are staff. In the library, the employees who have MLS degrees are designated as faculty. They're in a separate pay bracket, receive more benefits, have exclusive meetings, get extra perks. The wide chasm between faculty and staff was glaringly apparent when both a faculty member and a staff member in the library coincidentally became pregnant and had babies at the same time. The faculty member was out on paid leave for several months, whereas the staff member had to use all her available sick and vacation time and was expected back to work in 6 weeks.
• The system of "Levels." As a staff member, you start out at Level 2 with a set pay rate and you stay there until a Level 3 position at a higher pay opens, you apply and are accepted for the job. Otherwise, any pay increases come from small annual cost-of living-adjustments IF they happen at all. In my 10 years of working at the university, we've had three years with no cost-of-living adjustments and three additional years where the salary increases were lower than the inflation rate. Our net salary increases are now 9-1/2% below the inflation rate since 2000. The next logical Level 3 position above mine is occupied by a person who has been employed at the university for 15 years and shows no signs of going anywhere. Even if she did, I wouldn't be "rewarded" by a promotion to her position despite the fact that I've been a long-time employee and have always received excellent annual reviews. I'd have to apply and interview for the job along with anyone else in the university and the community-at-large who applied. That's how "the system" works here. It leaves you feeling inconsequential and valueless.
• The "Yankee factor."  It's hard for many people to believe who have never lived in the South, but for several years I was referred to as a Yankee in some way, shape or form every single day. It's not a compliment. A Yankee is considered to be an arrogant, abrupt individual who has no finesse, like a bull in a china closet. Southerners view themselves as much more smooth and genteel, and they have an uncanny way of making a criticism sound more like a compliment. It's an arduous, tedious process to gain the confidence of Bible Belt Southerners when you're a heathen Yankee. The southern accent is another hurdle to overcome. For example, the word "taxi" has three syllables, but the word "science" has only one syllable. Go figure! There's no such word as "sell."  Instead you ask, "Are you planning to sale your house?" After 13 years in Georgia, I still have a hard time interpreting the accent at times, which often gives me the appearance of being slow, dim-witted, or confused. Not exactly sterling qualities to have in the job market.

After 11 years of absolute stagnation in my job, I admit to letting it all get to me. My motivation is definitely lacking, and it's hard to keep believing that I'm a valuable, worthy employee when both the unsaid words and the actions of my employer belie that every day.