Research performance and age explain less than half of the gender pay gap in New Zealand universities

Abstract

We use a globally unique dataset that scores every individual academic's holistic research performance in New Zealand to test several common explanations for the gender pay gap in universities. We find a man's odds of being ranked professor or associate professor are more than double a woman's with similar recent research score, age, field, and university. We observe a lifetime gender pay gap of~NZ$400,000, of which research score and age explain less than half. Our ability to examine the full spectrum of research performance allows us to reject the 'male variability hypothesis' theory that the preponderance of men amongst the 'superstars' explains the lifetime performance pay gap observed. Indeed women whose research career trajectories resemble men's still get paid less than men. From 2003-12, women at many ranks improved their research scores by more than men, but moved up the academic ranks more slowly. We offer some possible explanations for our findings, and show that the gender gap in universities will never disappear in most academic fields if current hiring practices persist.

Mapping an agenda for gender equality in the academy

“…Drawing on a comprehensive New Zealand data set, Brower and James (2020) found that a male academic's odds of achieving a professorial or associate professorial position were more than double a woman's odds with a similar research score, age, field and university-and the odds were higher still if attention was only focused on achieving a full professorial position.…”

In Australasia, gender is still on the agenda in geosciences

“…Organisers frequently report that they tried to get female representation but failed, or else that there are no women at a suitable level within the discipline. Disproportionate representation of women is also seen in applicants for academic jobs, where the proportion of female applicants is commonly < 30 % and sometimes < 10 % (Ceci et al, 2014). Chairs of selection committees are sometimes asked to improve diversity of their applicant lists, to which they often reply that they have exhausted their networks and known potential applicants but the women are just not there.…”

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“…At the start of 2020, Bristol became the first university in Britain to commit to tackling its gender pay gap, which at 13.6% was actually lower than the national average in higher educational institutes of 15.1% ( http://bristol.ac.uk/ news/2020/january/gender-pay-gap-agreement.html ). A study published the same month reported that women academics in New Zealand would earn as much as $40 0,0 0 0 less over their career than their male colleagues [20] . In the US, sizeable pay discrepancies were reported in a study of the major federal health and science agencies; whilst the largest of these was in the National Science Foundation (ratio women: men 0.73), the National Institutes for Health (NIH) responded: 'The NIH takes the gender wage gap issue seriously and knows that there is additional work to be done' ( https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020 -0 0 023 -6 ).…”