Faculty Salaries: How Do Men and Women Compare?
It is no secret that men earn more than women for the same jobs. But is the gender wage gap closing and how does it affect faculty salaries?
In March, 2010 The Institute for Women's Policy Research published an article (http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/C350.pdf) that showed that the gender wage gap was still very significant. The nationwide ratio of women's and men's median annual earnings was 0.771 in 2008, compared with 0.778 in 2007. While the wage gap has narrowed during the last 50 years (the ratio was 0.6 in 1960), there has not been much change in the last ten years. The gender wage gap is also significant among people with advanced degrees. According to a study in 2001, the women to men ratio of annual earnings was 0.72 for those with Master's degrees, and 0.75 for those with Doctoral degrees. (http://www.womensmedia.com/new/Lips-Hilary-gender-wage-gap.shtml).
There is good news for those who are intending to go to academia. The following chart was adapted from the Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com/article/Chart-Average-Faculty/64999/) and it shows the average faculty salaries for the 2009-2010 school year.
While there is still a gender wage gap in universities, it is much lower than the national average. I also thought it was interesting that there was no significant gap for Instructors. If you are interested in teaching (and I know many students are) this could be a great career path for you.
There is an excellent book by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever called Women Don't Ask. In this book Babcock and Laschever show that women are four times less likely than men to negotiate their salaries, and this contributes very significantly to the gender wage gap. In fact many women do not even know that salaries are negotiable. In their sequel, Ask For It, Babcock and Laschever show you specific techniques to sharpen your negotiation skills in all areas of life, including the salary negotiating table. What I enjoyed most about these books were the stories that showed how much women can achieve by preparing well and asking the right questions.
Wishing you the best,
Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet
Author: "The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates."