Pay equity is equal pay for work of equal value, but even in 2013, there’s still a gap between what a man earns versus what a woman takes home in pay.
Now, the University of British Columbia is trying to change that, bridging the gap for its female professors.
It’s a big undertaking for the University of British Columbia — 880 tenure-stream female faculty are getting a raise at the end of the month to tackle pay equity.
“UBC is making a big statement and putting their money where their mouth is, and saying that we care about equity, we see it as a strategy, and we are going to move on it,” says Advisor to UBC provost on women faculty Rachel Kuske.
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In 2007 the university began a series of studies to look at wage gaps based on gender.
Their most recent findings show a more than $14,000 average difference between male and female full time professors. When you remove factors like experience you are left with a 2 per cent unexplained difference. That averages to about $3,000 a year.
“The study found that after adjusting for all other things, such as how long people have been in their careers, or the different types of departments that they are, their ranks and so on, that there was still a two per cent difference in salary between male and female faculty, and the only way to account for that would be by gender,” says Kuske.
UBC joins many universities that have tackled pay equity, but is one of the only ones to introduce an across-the-board raise.
They say a case-by-case basis is too slow.
The university hopes the approach will help attract those at the top of their field.
“In order to get the best talent, you need to make sure people have a way to progress through their careers in an equitable way,” adds Kuske.
The move is retroactive to 2010 and will cost the university about 2 million dollars a year.
In addition to wage correction, UBC will also examine starting salaries, recruitment and promotion in hopes of correcting gender inequity.
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