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The Daily Tar Heel

Report Finds Female Salaries Lower at UNC

Minority salaries higher on average than white faculty's.

The study found that, overall, female faculty members in Academic Affairs at UNC are paid $1,332 less in salary than male faculty.

The largest disparity was seen in the School of Medicine where, on average, women make $6,976 less than men. Within the school the problem is magnified in the Clinical Medicine Department, where women make an average $9,293 less than fellow male professors.

"We have a problem, and it needs to remedied," said Sue Estroff, chairwoman of the Faculty Council.

The council will address the issue at its next meeting, in December. The full report will be available Wednesday. Estroff said that meanwhile she hopes the administration takes a hard look at the disparities in salary.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, women receive on average $1,169 less than men.

Among tenured and tenure-track professors in Academic Affairs, female faculty made $1,830 less than male faculty; however, tenured and tenure-track female professors in the School of Medicine made on average $6,713 less than their male counterparts.

Many salary equity studies have been conducted in the past, but officials said this detailed report is the most blatant depiction of a discrepancy in pay.

The salary differences mirror a national trend in higher education, where even though more female professors are being hired, they still are being paid less, said Executive Associate Provost Bernadette Gray-Little.

Gray-Little and Lynn Williford, director of Institutional Research, conducted the report. Statistics were compiled using University payroll files and included all 2,566 individuals with full-time, permanent, primary appointments as faculty members. The chancellor, provost and other senior administrators were excluded from the study.

The study also detailed minority faculty salaries, finding that minorities made more than white professors.

Overall, minorities in Academic Affairs make on average $1,680 more in salary than white faculty. Tenured or tenure-track minority professors make on average $1,249 more than white professors.

In the School of Medicine, minorities received on average $597 less than white faculty members. But tenured or tenure-track minority professors in the School of Medicine make on average $6,261 more than white professors.

During the meeting, Estroff also expressed her concern that UNC staff don't make a living wage.

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