A new study finds that a gender salary gap persists at the University of California, Berkeley. The study found that women on average earn 4.3 percent less than men and 1.8 percent less than men when the data is controlled by faculty rank. While the percentage differences are small, the report states that “the average salary difference between White men and female faculty members is equivalent to about 1 to 4 years of career experience.” The report recommends that to eliminate the gender gap, salary increases beyond normal raises for promotion in faculty rank be made.
Janet Broughton, professor of philosophy, vice provost for faculty, and co-chair of the committee that conducted the salary study, states that “anything about equity for our faculty feels like an urgent issue to me — not because the study stands out in the national landscape, but because I want all our wonderful Berkeley faculty members to be supported and rewarded the way that they should be.”
Dr. Broughton added that “faculty, chairs, deans and central administrators all mean very, very well — there’s no question in my mind about that. But sometimes you just have to step back and say, aha, we can see we have more work to do to make our faculty culture as fully inclusive and supportive as possible.”
Professor Broughton is a graduate of the University of California, Davis and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University.
The Report on the UC Berkeley Faculty Salary Equity Study may be downloaded by clicking here.