Earnings Differences among Senior University Administrators: Evidence by Gender and Academic Field

Abstract

This study examines earnings inequality by gender and academic field among senior university administrators, including presidents, vice presidents, associate and assistant vice presidents, and deans, using data from the Canadian province of Ontario. While a 4.4 percent earnings gap between male and female administrators is initially identified, much of the gap is explained by earnings inequality across academic fields and by the career experience of the administrators. Administrators who specialize in professional fields such as engineering, health sciences, law, and social work earn between 12 percent and 33 percent more than administrators who specialize in liberal fields in the humanities and social sciences.

It’s Not Just a Pay Gap: Quantifying the Gender Wage and Pension Gap at a Post-Secondary Institution in Canada

“…The gap is deepest for racialized women, who earned only $0.68 on the dollar (a difference of 32%) relative to the dominant group (non-racialized, non-Indigenous men), according to the most recent census data (CAUT, 2018). In terms of senior academic administrators, Mang (2019) found that the wage gap is not only attuned to gender, but also to profession or discipline, with those in the health sciences, law, and social work earning between 12 to 33% more than administrators specializing in liberal fields in the social sciences and humanities.…”