Gender pay gap larger among Iowa university administrators, data shows

Female administrators at Iowa's public universities made 66 percent of what their male counterparts were paid last year - an even larger chasm than Iowa's overall gender pay gap of 77 cents on the dollar.

A Gazette review of the fiscal 2017 salaries of the 177 deans, vice presidents and presidents at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa show women's median total pay for fiscal 2017 was $149,500, compared to $226,500 for men.

The data, from the 2017 state salary book, published Wednesday, indicates even when people hold similar, high-level positions, women, on average, are paid less.

'The data and the patterns don't lie,” said Kevin Miller, senior researcher for the American Association for University Women (AAUW), which has studied the gender pay gap overall. 'Women's paychecks are 20 percent smaller.”

Only 10 states have a wider gender pay gap than Iowa, where women make 77 cents to a man's dollar, according to an AAUW analysis of annual median earnings for full-time employees in 2016. The national median earnings ratio for women is 80 percent, AAUW reports.

The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) reports female administrators in higher education earned 80 cents on the dollar compared to men in 2016.

That study showed across the United States, about half of higher education administrators are women, but as you get into the upper tier - especially presidents, chief information officers and athletic directors - representation by women falls off. Women who work in fields with more men tend to be paid more.

'For example, although female chief facilities officers are outnumbered more than 9:1 by men, they earn 17 percent more than their male counterparts - perhaps indicating efforts to attract and retain women in these types of high-level positions,” the organization notes in a Feb. 14 article about its findings.

Among the 177 Iowa university administrators with the words 'dean” or 'president” in their position descriptions, 54 percent were women.

Some people criticize gender pay comparisons because women, in general, choose different fields of work than men and more often than men take time off to have children or care for family members.

'Discrimination and bias are part of the story, but there are multiple factors we're considering,” Miller said.

The Gazette compared four similar university positions to find out if women or men in those jobs were paid more last year. In each case, the UI employee came out ahead.

Engineering: Alec Scranton, who has been dean of the UI College of Engineering since 2010, was paid $339,966 last year. Sarah Rajala, who became ISU's Engineering dean in 2013, was paid about $3,500 less at $336,393.

Business: Sarah Gardial, named the UI Tippie College of Business's first female dean in 2012, was paid $405,527 last year, 10 percent more than David Spalding, dean of ISU's Ivy College of Business since 2013, at $369,662.

Liberal Arts and Sciences: Chaden Djalali announced in March he will leave in 2018 after six years at the helm of the UI's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He was paid $348,382 last year, compared to the $300,034 paid to Beate Schmittmann, dean of ISU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since 2012.

Student Life: The UI hired Melissa Shivers as vice president of student life in May at an annual salary of $280,000. Martino Harmon was named senior vice president for student affairs at ISU last year at $275,000 a year.

The Iowa Board of Regents will pay ISU's first female president, Wendy Wintersteen, hired last month, less than UI President Bruce Harreld, hired in 2015. But by 2020, their pay may be equal because of Wintersteen's deferred compensation.

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