Sex and Salaries at a Canadian University: The Song Remains the Same or the Times They Are a Changin'?

Abstract

We examine whether a sex-based salary gap identified at the University of Manitoba in 1993 and 2003 persists in 2013. We apply decomposition techniques to analyze the factors contributing to the salary gap in each year and to its changes across the two decades. We find that a smaller but substantial 12 percent gap persists in 2013. In contrast to previous years, the 2013 gap is completely explained by sex differences in faculty, experience, and, more important, type of appointment and rank. The distribution of values of these control variables changed considerably between the earlier years and 2013 in ways that influenced the gap.

More Than a Pipeline Problem: Evaluating the Gender Pay Gap in Canadian Academia from 1996 to 2016

“…These papers estimated higher earnings differentials than our results indicated, with men earning anywhere from about 3.7% to over 12% more than women in a number of different contexts. As with these papers, our findings indicate that most of the salary differences between men and women in post-secondary education can be accounted for by different factor endowments, reflecting systemic discrimination against women (Brown & Troutt, 2017). Chief among these factors was the pipeline effect, which indicates that women may be structurally impeded from reaching higher positions in the university hierarchy.…”

“…Our findings were broadly consistent with those of previous studies. As previously noted, studies analyzing gender earning differentials have all found that women earned less on average than men (Warman et al, 2010;Brown & Troutt, 2017;Essaji & Horton, 2010). These papers estimated higher earnings differentials than our results indicated, with men earning anywhere from about 3.7% to over 12% more than women in a number of different contexts.…”

“…Warman, Woolley, and Worswick (2010) found persistent but declining earnings differentials between men and women who were full-time instructional staff in all Canadian universities between 1970 and 2001. Two detailed analyses of salary differentials at the University of Manitoba from 1993 to 2013 likewise found substantial gaps in a similar study group, which were mostly explained by differences in academic rank (Brown, Troutt, & Prentice, 2011;Brown & Troutt, 2017). These papers made use of more advanced ordinary least squares estimation and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, using age, gender, academic rank, and education as control variables.…”

When Pay Equity Policy Is not Enough: Persistence of the Gender Wage Gap Among Health, Education, and STEM Professionals in Canada, 2006‒2016

“…Numerous studies have examined and re-examined gender-related wage gaps in Canada to help inform policy solutions to address this form of social inequality (Baker & Drolet, 2010;Brown & Troutt, 2017;Pelletier et al, 2019;Schirle, 2015;Vincent, 2013). Even though most high-income countries have laws that mandate the equal treatment of women and men in the labour market, a gender wage gap is found in almost every OECD nation's economies, with women working full-time earning an average of 87 cents for every dollar that a man makes (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development, 2021).…”

“…However, even as more women enter traditionally male-dominated occupations, their professional experiences continue to be defined by their gender (Adams, 2010a;Osten, 2021). Gender-based inequalities have been found to persist among women in medicine, university teaching, and other traditionally male-dominated occupations, notably in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and computer science (STEM) fields (Brown & Troutt, 2017;Cheryan et al, 2017;Cohen & Kiran, 2020). Among its performance indicators towards gender equality goals, the Canadian government's Gender Results Framework monitors the sex distribution of postsecondary qualification holders and the difference between women and men in average annual employment income (Women & Gender Equality Canada, 2022).…”