Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Gender Pay Gap Shrinking for Some Female University Presidents

  • 06/17/19

CATONSVILLE, MD – While serious economic and societal issues continue to swirl around the gender pay gap, new research published in the INFORMS journal Organization Science shows one area where this inequality is starting to disappear—higher education. Researchers have found that the gender pay gap disappears at more prestigious universities.

The research, conducted by Dane Blevins of the University of Central Florida, Steve Sauerwald of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Jenny Hoobler of the University of Pretoria, and Chris Robertson of Northeastern University is based on 17 years of data from more than 1,100 university presidents working for more than 700 universities in the U.S. The status of universities in the study is determined by data collected from U.S News & World Report's Best College Rankings.

While the study reveals that in higher education there is typically a 9 percent compensation difference between male and female presidents, with women receiving less pay than men on average, at higher status universities, female presidents are receiving similar levels of total compensation as male presidents—and some are even earning more than male presidents at prestigious universities.

"Our research finds accounting for where the glass ceiling is broken is an important consideration in understanding the gender pay gap," says Blevins, an associate professor in the Department of Management at the University of Central Florida. "Higher status universities are often viewed as guideposts and their standard of compensation among female presidents may encourage other universities, businesses and organizations of all types, to follow suit and further reduce, if not close, the gender pay gap in the United States."

About INFORMS and Organization Science
INFORMS is the leading international association for operations research and analytics professionals. Organization Science, one of 16 journals published by INFORMS, is a leading academic journal that covers groundbreaking research about organizations, including their processes, structures, technologies, identities, capabilities, forms, and performance. More information is available at www.informs.org.

Featured

  • California K–12 District Completes Elementary School Campus Replacement

    The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) in Richmond, Calif., recently announced the completion of a replacement campus for Lake Elementary School, according to a news release. The school has capacity for 470 students between Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and sixth grade.

  • Photo credit - Chuck Coates

    Florida District Modernizes Central Energy Plants at Two High Schools

    Flagler Schools, a public school district in Flagler County, Fla., recently partnered with Matern Professional Engineering to modernize the central energy plants at two of its high schools, according to a news release. The project is part of a larger, district-wide effort to reduce energy costs and operational expenses.

  • UT System Approves First Funds for New Campus

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved funds to build the first facility of a new campus in far west Fort Worth, Texas, according to university news. UTA West will serve as a branch of the University of Texas at Arlington and is scheduled to open in fall 2028.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.