New Reports Examines the Impact of a Women College or University President on the Gender Pay Gap in Academia

A new report from CUPA-HR (College and University Professional Association for Human  Resources) finds that academic institutions with women presidents or provosts have higher representation and pay for women in administrative, dean, and faculty positions than institutions led by men.

The report finds that institutions with female presidents have a higher percentage of women in all administrative categories: senior institutional officers, institutional administrators, and heads of divisions. Female administrators are generally paid less than male administrators in the same positions regardless of the sex of the president. However, female senior institutional officers, institutional administrators, and heads of divisions are paid more equitably at institutions with a female president than at institutions with a male president.

For example, women who are senior institutional officers at academic institutions with a male president earn 92 cents on the dollar compared to their male partners. Women in the same positions at academic institutions led by a woman, earn 97 cents on the dollar compared to their male peers.

The report did find that for deans and tenured faculty, there were only slight differences in pay depending on the sex of the institution’s president.

The study also reports that women college or university presidents make 91 cents on the dollar of male presidents. Women provosts earn 96 cents on the dollar compared to male provosts.

The full report, “Women in the Leadership Pipeline in Higher Education Have Better Representation and Pay in Institutions With Female Presidents and Provosts,” may be found here.