On average, female professors at the University of Iowa make less money than their male counterparts.
According to an April report by the American Association of University Professors, women who are full professors at the UI make 85.3 percent what men do in the same position. The UI has the largest gap among the three regent universities and Big Ten institutions for full professors.
There are three professor ranks: full, associate and assistant. The ratio for associate professors is 92.1 percent and 90 percent for assistants.
Gwendolyn Gillson, a religious studies Ph.D. student hoping to become a professor, wrote in an email that academia is making “some good progress towards gender equality, but there is still a long way to go.”
“I would like to say that I’m surprised that a pay gap persists, but I’m not,” Gillson said. “I’ve seen so many explanations for why the pay gap exists, and none of them are satisfactory. I think the only way that the gap will disappear is when everybody realizes how important this issue is to a fair and equitable society, but so far, we’re not to that point yet.”
Female full professors at Michigan State University are paid 96 percent what males are, the lowest difference in the Big Ten.
Jayne Schuiteman, the interim director of the Michigan State Women’s Resource Center, was “delighted” at the news, but she emphasized fewer women become full professors, which she said is an issue that still needs to be addressed.
