Labor Unions and Equal Pay for Faculty: A Longitudinal Study of Gender Pay Gaps in a Unionized Institutional Context

Previous single university studies of gender equity in faculty salaries conducted at both private and public universities in the U.S. have consistently found significant within-job gender gaps in pay. This study presents data from a less common labor context for faculty: a strongly unionized campus. Using data on all faculty at a large public university 2003-2015, three kinds of multivariate analyses are conducted: OLS multivariate regressions that include controls for race, field, and rank; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition models to identify the explained and unexplained portions of the gender gap; and innovative longitudinal models for wage growth trajectories to examine the change in pay gaps over time. Significant initial gender pay gaps are erased overtime for faculty who remain in the university. In contrast to other recent salary equity studies, no within-job pay gaps for men and women faculty are found after controlling for rank and college. Yet an overall university-wide pay gap exists due to considerable underrepresentation of women in fields and ranks with the highest pay. We conclude that union-backed policies which address individual level inequities have been successful at reducing some inequities in pay, but the implementation of policies and programs that address broader gender inequities are still needed