Study Examines the Gender Wage Gap for Faculty at Public Universities

A new study by researchers at the University of Missouri examined the gender wage gap in six academic disciplines at 40 public universities across the United States. The six disciplines for which the authors collected wage data were biology, chemistry, economics, English, sociology and educational leadership and policy. In total, 4,047 faculty members were included in the study, 65 percent of whom were male. The mean annual salary was $120,194.70.

Women were underrepresented in all fields except education. Women were 48 percent of the faculty in English departments but less than 20 percent of the faculty in economics departments. The authors did discover greater gender diversity in assistant professor ranks than what was found in tenured positions.

Black and Hispanic faculty earned lower salaries, on average, compared to white faculty — approximately $10,000 to $15,000 less per year.

The study determined that on average, women earned $23,000 less than men. The authors found that wage gaps were largely due to three factors: amount of work experience, research productivity and field of expertise. The gender wage is driven predominantly by underrepresentation in science and math intensive fields.

The full study,”Representation and Salary Gaps by Race-Ethnicity and Gender at Selective Public Universities,” was published on the website of the journal Educational Researcher. It may be accessed here.