Salary and Rank 

 Differences betA\'een Men 

 and Women Scientists Are 

 Largely Explained by Work 

 PatteiTLS and Choices 



Several recent studies show that salary and rank differences between men 

 and women can largely be explained by work patterns and choices. Even 

 tliough the percentage of women in facultj^ positions has increased, many 

 studies show that women faculty have not yet caught up with men faculty 

 in se\-eral areas, including salarj' and teniu-e.' However, a recent study 

 found that just over 91 percent of the discrepancy between men's and 

 women's facultj^ salaries could be explained by differences in experience, 

 work patterns, seniority, and education levels."' Om- review of faculty data 

 found that women science faculty compared with men faculty 



more often taught as their primary responsibility, 



less often conducted research as their primarv' responsibility, 



less often held a first professional degree or PhD, 



more often worked pait-time, 



more often had less experience, 



more often were yoimger, and 



more often were native U.S. citizens. 



Sinularly, a recent study of the top 50 departments of engineering and 

 science, as rarxked by NSF, revealed that women faculty- were more often 

 associate or assistant professors than full professors and that women 



'U.S. Department of Education, National Center For Education Statistics, Salaty, 

 Promotion, and Tenutv Status of Minority and Women Faculty in U.S. Colleges and 

 Universities, NCES 2000-17.3, OVashington, D.C.: March. 2000). U.S. Department of 

 Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Gender and Racial/Ethnic Differences 

 in Salai-y and Other Characteristics of Postsecondai-y Faculty: Fall 1998, NCES 2002- 

 170, O\'ashington. D.C.: September. 2002). U.S. General Accounting Office, Women's 

 Earnings: Work Patterns Partially E.rplain Difference between Men's and Women's 

 Earnings, GAO-04-3.5 (Washington, D.C.: October 31, 2003). MarciaL. Bellas, "Disciplinary- 

 Differences in Faculty' Salaries: Does Gender Bias Play a Role?," The Journal of Higher 

 Education: May/Jun 1997. Robert K Toutkoushian and Marcia L Bellas, The Effects of 

 Part-Tinie EmplojTnent and Gender on Faculty Earnings and Satisfaction." Hie Journal of 

 Higher Education: Mar/Apr 2003. Report of the Congressional Commission on the 

 Ad\ancement of Women and Minorities in Science. Engineering and Technology 

 Development, Land of Plenty: Diveisity as America's Competitive Edge in Science, 

 Engineering arid Technology (Washington. D.C.. September 2000). Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology, A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT: How a 

 Committee on Women Faculty Came to Be Established by the Dean of the School of 

 Science, What the Committee and the Dean Learned and Accomplished, and 

 Recommendations for the Future: (Boston, ^L\. 1999). 



"*NCES 2002-170. 



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GAO-04-639 Gender Issues 



