- Among business and finance administrators at colleges and universities in the U.S., women over age 48 face the largest pay gaps in relation to white men, according to a new report that examines the higher education business and finance workforce.
- Specifically, the report found that women in this age group are paid 82 cents on the dollar compared to white men in the field, whereas women 48 and under are paid 97 cents for every dollar paid to their white male peers.
- The report recommends that institutions conduct “comprehensive pay equity reviews” and implement “targeted compensation adjustments” to get rid of pay disparities based on age and gender.
The bigger picture:
The report also emphasizes the need for regular salary audits across all business and finance positions, especially for women in administrative roles. It also advocates for the use of clear pay scales and unbiased performance standards as a means to reduce wage disparities over the long term.
Still, gender-based pay disparities remain one of the most persistent and prevalent problems in the global workplace, and racial differences further complicate the picture, as Black and Hispanic women continue to make less than their white counterparts.
Perhaps the world’s foremost expert in this regard is Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin, who in 2023 was awarded a Nobel prize in economics for her work advancing understanding of labor market outcomes for women. Similar to the CUPA-HR report’s findings, Goldin has found that the pay gap increases with age. She has stated further that the gap is affected by things such as child-rearing decisions and women’s time out of the workforce.
Goldin has argued that eliminating the gender pay gap will require restructuring jobs to offer more flexibility and being slower to penalize people for using that flexibility and taking time out.
