Can a gender pay gap in academia exist, despite professors' salaries being regulated uniformly on a national level?
Yes, because in addition to the fixed, age-independent base salary, there are also several variable salary components.
These freely negotiable components include performance-related pay, for example:
- Appeal and Defense-Payments
- Special Benefits: payments that are not expected within the normal scope of the profession (e.g., special evaluations, awards, and third-party funding).
- Function supplements, e.g., for teaching or certain responsibilities.
It's important to note that the quality of these components can vary, especially when it comes to fixed-term contracts, “Dynamisierung" and "Ruhegehaltsfähigkeit” indexation, and pension eligibility).
Other flexible salary components, such as family allowances, are subject to certain conditions and are non-negotiable. Therefore, they are not relevant in this context.
What factors contribute to disparities in compensation between men and women?
The gender pay gaps identified cannot be attributed to unadjusted data because salaries for the same positions and salary levels were examined. Studies have also failed to confirm the assumption that female professors' lower pay is entirely due to their choice of subject, i.e., "self-selection." Additionally, there were some earnings inequalities within subjects with a high proportion of women, but these varied depending on the subject.
Compared to the “C salary scale”, which provided regular age-related increases in basic salaries until 2004, the “W salary scale” increasingly incorporated flexible salary components. This meant that a larger gender pay gap could potentially arise. Therefore, it will not automatically disappear with a younger and more diverse professorial staff but must continue to be monitored.
Some of the best analyses of this topic can be found in the federal state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. The findings make it clear that action is still needed, they also highlight the challenges that ought to be addressed, though.
The gender pay gap is also being discussed in Baden-Württemberg. Since 2021, the Second Hochschulfinanzierungsvertrag ("Higher Education Financing Agreement",HOFV II) has required universities to record income differences related to gender. As initial results revealed a gap, the Ministry of Science and Art (MWK) will continue to coordinate mandatory data collection. In a statement on the initial results, the Minister of Science emphasized that the issue is being taken seriously.
Press Release 2024 July, 03th (N0. 059/2024) deutsch
