Some female professors and librarians at the University of Windsor were making $13,500 a year less than their male counterparts.
The University of Windsor and the Windsor University Faculty Association set up a task force last year to evaluate pay equity among its staff. The task force revealed a major pay gap among the university's most senior academics and librarians.
The report found that female employees at the highest teaching and librarian ranks are paid less than their male counterparts at a rate that, on average, exceeds $1,000 a month. The pay gap was found to increase with time since tenure.
"I would like to thank the committed group of people who worked together to examine the ongoing Gender Pay Gap among our University faculty and librarians. The recommendations made by the task force will be implemented, and the process will continue until this gap is eliminated,” said President of WUFA Dr. Anna Lanoszka.
To address the inequity, an algorithm was developed to compensate female academics and librarians. When applied across the compensation of all top-ranked female academics as of 2020, results in a reduction of the average gender pay gap from $13,528 to $92.
“Thank you to the task force for their important work in attempting to address gender pay gaps at the University of Windsor,” said Dr. Rob Gordon, President and Vice-Chancellor. “We are hopeful that this acknowledgement and our efforts to right this historic wrong will demonstrate to women who hold senior academic positions that the University of Windsor values their contributions and is committed to equitable practices going forward."
According to the task force, no such gap was seen among associate and assistant professors or lower-ranked librarians. The university has committed to analyzing employee pay grades every two years to ensure gender pay parity continues.
