Dr. Rajshree Agarwal, Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business
Researchers analyzed the National Science Foundation’s Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System, studying career trends from 1995 to 2017 for science and engineering doctoral recipients from U.S. universities.
Among the study’s central findings is that the gender pay gap of doctoral degree holders over their entire career is 1.5 times higher in academia compared to industry. Yet researchers notice points of optimism as well.
“When I looked at the findings, I saw a mix of good and bad news,” said Dr. Rajshree Agarwal, one of the study's authors and the Rudolph Lamone Chair of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “The gender pay gap at rookie and high-ranking positions does not exist, which shows progress. But I do worry about the causes and consequences of what looks like a promotion gap.”
Dr. Donna Ginther, the Dean’s Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas, researches gender differences in scientific labor markets. This unevenness in higher education also jumped out to Ginther from the study.
“I think the devil is in the details in this paper. Not all academic jobs are created equal,” she said. “We have a kind of class system in academia. And the disparities this research is picking up are driven more by temporary-type positions like lecturers and postdocs, which usually pay less.”
But as an economist, Ginther was not surprised to see that academia suffered more of a gender pay gap than industry.
