Chancellor Richard L. Byyny has made a commitment to correct gender inequities in salaries among University of Colorado at Boulder faculty within three years.
Each year since he assumed the responsibilities of Chancellor, Byyny has requested an analysis of salaries by gender, rank and discipline.
The most recent salary analysis showed that white female faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder earn an average of $1,123 less than their white male colleagues, Byyny said.
"This is the only group that is not only behind in terms of salary, but actually losing ground," he said. "Minority male and minority female professors聮 salaries are not lagging, and, in fact, are somewhat higher than white males聮 salaries in many cases." He said white female salaries were 2 percent lower than white male salaries.
A total of 945 Boulder campus salaries were analyzed. The data was corrected to reflect differences among departments; business and law salaries, for example, are higher than those in the humanities and social sciences.
The data showed white female assistant professors earn an average of $815 less than their counterparts; white female associate professors, $691 less; and white female full professors, $2,280 less.
Professors hired recently tend to receive salaries comparable to men due to the competition among institutions of higher education for faculty. CU has been very fortunate in being able to retain its superb faculty, who are second in the nation in their ability to compete for research funding, Byyny said.
"When we do experience brain drain, it is usually to institutions we admire, the Princetons and Harvards," he said.
The correction will be a part of the salary-setting process over the next three years. The Chancellor said that it was among his top priorities to ensure equitable salaries for women at CU-Boulder.