CUPA-HR Report: Women Administrators Face Growing Pay Disparities as They Age

The bigger picture:

In practical terms, being paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to white men can mean bringing home $30,000 less in salary per year. “This substantial disparity in salary creates a compounding effect, as lower annual earnings directly reduce a woman’s ability for lifetime savings and the long-term accumulation of retirement wealth,” states the report, which was produced by CUPA-HR, an association for HR professionals who work in higher education.

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.