Salary Disparities Research Articles

Examining gender salary disparities: an analysis of the 2003 multistate salary survey

Background Pharmacist salary and wage surveys have been conducted at the state and national level for more than 20 years; however, it is not known to what extent, if any, wage disparities due to gender still exist. Objectives The overall objective of this study was to determine if wage disparities exist among male and female pharmacists at the multistate and individual state level for each of 6 states studied. A secondary objective was to explore the effect of various demographic variables on the hourly wages of pharmacists. Methods Data were collected from 1,688 pharmacists in 6 states during 2003 using a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. A multiple regression analysis on hourly wage testing the effects of state of practice, practice setting, position, terminal degree, and years in practice was conducted. Subsequent multiple regression analyses were conducted individually for each of the 6 states to test the effects of the above variables on hourly wage for both male and female pharmacists, followed by state-level analyses for male and female pharmacists, respectively. Results For the pooled data, all variables were found to be significant predictors of hourly wage, except for earning a PharmD degree without a residency or graduate degree. Gender was not a significant predictor of wage disparities in the state-level analyses. Position was the only significant predictor of wage disparities in all states (except Tennessee) such that pharmacists in management positions make significantly higher salaries than those in staff positions. Conclusions The results of these analyses suggest that wage disparities due to gender do not exist at the state level for the 6 states surveyed, when controlling for practice setting, position, terminal degree, and years in practice. The larger number of men in management positions may explain lower wages for female pharmacists.

Gender-Based Wage Differences: The Effects of Occupation and Job Segregation in Israel

This article reports on an analysis of gender differences in the process governing salary disparity between typically female occupations and typically male occupations. The research surveyed 771 white collar employees. The findings indicate that choice of occupation does affect income disparity. This study provides evidence of pay discrimination against men in predominantly female occupations and against women in female- and male-dominated positions. In contrast to North American studies, women did not experience a positive effect by being employed in the public sector, nor did either of the genders working in larger organizations. The implications of the findings for the generalizability of human capital, structural and institutional theories explaining wage disparity in a cross-national context are discussed.

Teacher Retention in Catholic Schools

Teacher attrition is a concern in all educational sectors but is of special importance to Catholic schools because of the salary disparity between public and Catholic schools. This review examines the research on teacher retention in general with a view to understanding how this knowledge might inform teacher recruitment and retention strategies in Catholic schools and dioceses. The relationship between salient teacher characteristics”such as job satisfaction and salary”and teacher retention is discussed.

The Underrepresentation of Minority Faculty in Higher Education: Panel Discussion

[Excerpt] The 3 July 2002 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education described the matter we are discussing today in these words: Taken together. African-Americans and persons of Hispanic origin represent only 8 percent of full-time faculty nation-wide, and while 5 percent are African-American, half of them work at historically black institutions. The proportion of black faculty members at white institutions is 2.3 percent, virtually the same as it was 20 years ago. We are privileged to have the opportunity to explore this issue from two different perspectives. The first contends that unless major changes occur, the number of minority students interested in and prepared for faculty positions will remain dreadfully insufficient and that, furthermore, affirmative action has been a culprit in this process and leads many of these students into higher educational environments in which they do not perform well enough to even seriously consider or be considered for careers in academe. The other position says that, although the supply of minority faculty candidates is admittedly small, the relatively low level of commitment from higher educational institutions to recruit, hire, and promote minority candidates and the salary disparity between academe and industry lead to a problem of demand that must be appreciated and addressed. Furthermore, it argues, affirmative action has been beneficial in increasing minority faculty

A Marketing Approach to Recruiting Librarians

SUMMARY Library association publications and newspaper articles point to a growing, nationwide shortage of professional librarians. While low salaries are one cause of the shortage, other factors contribute to the crisis. Results of a survey of library science students in ALA accredited programs in Texas provide a glimpse of what students value when applying for a job and of their perceptions of the major causes of the librarian shortage. The students confirm that libraries must change the way they recruit if they expect to fill their vacancies. Through a marketing approach, libraries can discover and address issues of value to potential employees, resulting in more effective recruiting strategies. Recruiting strategies must emphasize features that help reduce salary disparity. Based upon contact with libraries, human resources offices, and library and information science students, this paper suggests a seven-point formula to assist libraries in developing strategies for successful recruiting.

So how far have we come? Pestilent and persistent gender gap in pay.

This article explores the issue of women's salaries in the human services within a comparative framework of many service occupations. An analysis of year-end 1998 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics clearly demonstrates that salary disparities continue to exist between men and women. The author argues that these differences are based on continued patterns of discrimination, despite a plethora of policy initiatives dating back to the 1960s civil rights era to address gender discrimination in the workplace. Relevant policies are reviewed and assessed in terms of how far we have come in achieving pay equity between men and women. Several strategic directions to combat inequities are discussed, including public and professional education; individual, group, and professional advocacy; and targeted policy practice. Parallels are drawn between the gender discrimination experienced by social workers and client groups served.

Salary equity among male and female internists in Pennsylvania.

Women constitute an increasing proportion of physicians in the United States. Historically, inequities have existed between male and female physicians in professional advancement, but evidence has suggested that disparities in salary are resolving. To examine the current state of salary equity among male and female internists. Population-based survey mailed to all Board-certified female internists and a matched group of male internists who had graduated from medical school 10 to 30 years ago and were currently practicing. Pennsylvania. 232 male and 213 female internists for whom data were complete. Respondents answered questions about demographic characteristics, training, practice type and setting, status within the practice, family life, and salary. Women were more likely to be involved in the least lucrative practice arrangements. They were more likely to be in low-paying specialties, to not be a partner in the practice, and to be salaried employees; they also spent fewer hours per week seeing patients. Even after adjustment for these differences, hourly earnings were significantly higher (14%) among men than among their female colleagues. Men's earnings significantly exceeded women's earnings among physicians with no academic affiliation, those in high-earning specialties, and those in general internal medicine. Significant salary differentials exist between male and female internists overall and in various medical practice settings.

A National Study of Gender-Based Occupational Segregation in Municipal Bureaucracies: Persistence of Glass Walls?

Affirmative action policies and voluntary hiring decisions have increased the presence of women at all levels of government (Eribes, et al., 1989; Kelly, et al., 1991; Bullard and Wright, 1993; Stivers, 1993; Crum and Naff, 1997). Still, strong evidence exists that women continue to find it difficult to break into male-dominated fields despite nearly three decades of affirmative action policies (Leonard, 1989; Lewis and Nice, 1994; Newman, 1994; Tomoskavic-Devey, Kalleberg, and Cook, 1996). A preponderance of studies in the literature on the employment distribution of women and men and the integration of women into governmental managerial ranks provide evidence that women face both glass walls and glass ceilings at the federal and state levels (Lewis and Emmert, 1986; Pfeffer and Davis-Blake, 1987; Baron and Newman, 1989; Kellough, 1990; Bullard and Wright, 1993; Guy, 1993; Cornwell and Kellough, 1994; Lewis and Nice, 1994; Naff, 1994; Newman, 1994; Ruccucci and Saidel, 1997). Though some discussion of ceiling issues is necessary to provide a context for our analysis, this article will primarily concern itself with the wall phenomenon. The glass wall metaphor describes occupational segregation attributed to employment barriers that restrict the access of women to certain types of jobs (or agencies) or that trap them within certain types of jobs (or agencies). Glass walls are likely to persist when: (1) organizational cultures create impediments to change; and/or (2) skills necessary to perform jobs in a given agency are not highly valued elsewhere. The potential for female employment opportunities at the municipal level is considerable. Not only is there a large number of jobs in city governments, but many jobs are close to home and educational opportunities. Even when these employment opportunities contribute to the hiring of large numbers of women by municipal governments, the advancement of women into the more prestigious municipal policymaking positions is a different matter (Slack, 1987; Ballard and Lawn-Day, 1992). Although employment opportunities for women are more numerous at the local level than either the state or federal level, systematic or large-scale studies at this level of government have been scarce. The lack of access to comparative data on cities has resulted in a dearth of empirical studies on gender-based occupational segregation and salary disparities at the municipal level. Greater attention needs to be devoted to evaluating the extent and nature of glass walls in municipal governments (Radin, 1980; Rinehart, 1991). Research which tends to focus on what Frederickson (1990) calls block equality paints the most optimistic picture of female or minority employment patterns (Furchtgott-Roth and Stolba, 1996). The findings in this body of research are derived using highly aggregated data. Aggregation can obscure the fact that females are underrepresented in the best paying or most influential positions in an agency and can hide gender segregation that may exist among government agencies. Segmented equality shifts the focus of analysis to gender representation in various types of jobs (or at different organizational levels) and within functional (or policy) areas in municipal governments (Frederickson, 1990). This latter approach is more likely to identify gender-based differences in employment and salary patterns. We use the latter approach, segmented equality/inequality, to study municipal employment. We examine gender distributions in administrative and professional jobs.(1) Administrative and professional positions are the most desirable ones in city governments; they confer status and authority, are relatively well-paying, and in many cases, allow bureaucrats to significantly influence policymaking and its implementation. We also examine gender-based employment patterns in discrete functional policy areas or tasks within municipal bureaucracies to determine if policy outputs are associated with the extent and nature of glass walls. …

Pay Equity in Social Work: Not!

Salary inequities on basis of gender have been a traditional and long-standing problem in United States. At end of 1960s, salaries of women averaged only 59 percent of those received by men (Economic Report of President, 1974). Earlier, a salary report on social workers was more positive than for labor force as a whole but still problematic. Becker (1961), reporting on membership of National Association of Social Workers (NASW), found that women earned about 86 percent of salaries earned by men ($7,700 for men, $6,600 for women). A 1987 report on social work salaries (NASW, 1987) indicated that male respondents earned on average about 30.5 percent more than female respondents, suggesting that wage gap had grown significantly. Sutton (1982) found that among membership of Pennsylvania chapter of NASW, median income for women was less than for men at all levels of job responsibility and that as job responsibilities increased, range between median incomes also increased. For 1987 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that ratio of women's wages to men's was 65 percent (Rich, 1989). The U.S. Bureau of Census reported that average income of men with one to three years of college was higher than that of all groups of women, including those who had attended graduate school (Schiller, 1989). Studies of social work salaries over past 30 years have reached same and seemingly indisputable conclusion: Salary disparities between male and female social workers exist, and major explanatory factor is gender (Belon & Gould, 1977; Fanshel, 1976; Fortune & Hanks, 1988; Jennings & Daley, 1979; Scotch, 1971; Sutton, 1982; Yamatani, 1982; York, 1987). Sutton (1982) concluded that the emphasis on affirmative action has not strongly affected personnel practices of agencies employing social workers and that progress has not been made in eradicating sex discrimination in social work settings (p. 214). In social work education, Sowers-Hoag and Harrison (1991) found that male faculty members with doctorates and holding rank of full professor earned higher salaries than their female counterparts. Earlier, Gould and Bok-Lim (1976) found that even when rank, degree, publications, experience, and ethnicity were controlled, significant differences existed in salaries of men and women social work faculty. The results of Ridgewood Financial Institute's annual Fee and Practice Survey (Landers, 1992) of 1,905 psychologists, social workers, counselors, and marriage and family therapists in private practice revealed a wide income gap between men and women in full-time private practice. For social workers in private clinical practice, men earned median incomes of $57,273 compared with $47,000 for women (Landers, 1992). Equal Pay for Equal Work The concept of equal pay for equal work has been embodied in law since passage of Equal Pay Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-38). Although gap between salaries of men and women has narrowed in some fields, it remains, overall, quite persistent. A recent survey (Lappen, 1993) revealed that gender wage gap had narrowed between 1983 and 1991 in several occupations, including secretary, police, guard, and firefighter. On other hand, for each dollar earned by a male physician, female physicians earned 82 cents in 1983 and 54 cents in 1991; female lawyers earned 89 cents for every dollar earned by a man in 1983 and 59 cents in 1991. Unfortunately, most recent data on social work salaries revealed that salary discrepancies on basis of gender remain a persistent problem (Gibelman & Schervish, 1993). Social Work's Commitment NASW has long been concerned with issue of equity and equality for women, both in society and within profession of social work. A dual focus on achieving equity and equality has guided association's efforts for two decades. …

Public relations practitioner attitudes toward gender issues: A benchmark study

Abstract This paper reports on the attitudes of 443 randomly-selected public relations practitioners from two professional organizations toward the increasing number of women in public relations. Practitioner beliefs about how their own characteristics have affected their careers and the effects of demographics on the attitudes reported were also assessed. Results were that there is salary disparity in public relations between men and women. Women face special problems when they attempt to achieve management positions in public relations. Women are victims of sexual bias, either through overt acts of sex discrimination or because they are perceived differently on such attributes as managerial motivation, willingness to sacrifice work over family demands, and ability to command top salary.

The Gender Gap in Salaries of Educational Administration Professors

A recent study indicated that women faculty earn, on average, approximately $10,000 less than their male colleagues. Further, even when controlling for rank, women faculty still earn approximately $5,000 less than men (McCarthy, Kuh, Newell, & lacona, 1988). Although these data suggest possible gender bias in compensation, descriptive statistics do not adequately verify wage and salary discrimination. Therefore, this study explores the problem of a make/female salary differential for professors, discusses relevant factors that may explain this salary disparity, and applies a model for detecting bias in compensation to a sample of educational administration professors' salaries. Results of the study indicate that a statistically significant proportion of the salary variance (beyond that of other compensable factors) is explained by gender. Further, the salary loss uniquely due to gender for female professors of educational administration averages more than $3,000 per academic year.

Free agents’ impact on the labor market for baseball players

This paper evaluates the 1976 free agent rule’s impact on the labor market for baseball players. Free agency has specific consequences for monopsonistic exploitation and racial discrimination in salary determination. It reduces monopsonistic exploitation for all players and increases salary opportunities for black and Latino players. However, this change in a player’s status vis-a-vis a team has generated salary disparities among players based, not on race, but bargaining position.