Gender Inequity in Faculty Pay

Abstract

Organizations must attract, motivate and retain competent employees. Because the achievement of these goals is accomplished largely through a firm's compensation system, organizations must strive for compensation equity. Compensation must be fair to all parties concerned and be perceived as fair. If employees feel they are being compensated unfairly, they may restrict their efforts or leave the organization. From an employee relations perspective, internal pay equity is probably more important because employees have more information about pay matters within their own organization and are likely to use these data to form perceptions of equity. This article addresses internal equity issues related to faculty salary. It also has relevance to studies about salary compression and performance measurement. Moreover, it provides a method based on reliable research for identifying gender differences in rewards and determining the significance of these differences. Although this article has evolved from a public university setting, its conclusions are relevant to college and university personnel decision making in general.