Women Academics Lose Out To Males In Pay And Progress
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday May 11, 1998
Female academics get paid much less than their male counterparts, take longer to complete their doctorates and are often forced to take extensive "career breaks" because of family commitments, a new national study has found.
The study, commissioned by the National Tertiary Education Union, found that while many more women are being employed in universities, they lag well behind in pay, with male academics earning on average $439 a fortnight more than females. Among administrative staff, the gap is less obvious but still significant - males earn on average $264 a fortnight more than females.
Based on an analysis of payroll data from 18 universities and interviews with over 3,000 staff, the study has also debunked the view that women are not as committed to their academic careers as men.
However, women are significantly less likely than men to hold a PhD, the degree increasingly seen by many universities as the minimum requirement for promotion beyond the level of lecturer.
On average, women are six years older than men when they obtain their doctorates. The main reason for this is that career academics are still expected to complete their higher degrees, such as the PhD, when they are in their late 20s, a time when many women are more likely to be starting a family.
As a result, women are seriously under-represented at the top of the academic ladder, accounting for about 10 per cent of associate professors and professors.
The study, which was conducted by a team of researchers led by Professor Belinda Probert of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, says women who take "career breaks" because of family commitments continue to be seriously disadvantaged.
"Recent evidence suggests that career breaks do not merely slow progress, but for many women may actually lead to moves down the occupational ladder," the researchers have concluded. They say that almost 43 per cent of the male academics interviewed had a partner who did not work full-time and therefore was able to look after children, compared to just 8 per cent for female academics.
The study - Gender Pay Equity in Australian Education - released yesterday calls for additional support for female academics working towards a PhD, and a review of the Australian Postgraduate Award Scheme, which "assumes that PhD students are young, single and able to complete their studies without serious family interruptions".
They also called for the introduction of a new academic classification - tutorial fellow - to regulate the employment of junior academics as a possible alternative to casual employment.
Tertiary Tales who minds the Children
Stated main carer of children among academics (5)
Women Men
Myself 49.1 4.3
My partner 3.1 47.4
shared equality 42.3 44.3
Other 5.5 4.0
Source: Gender Pay Equity Study, NTEU
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald