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News

Representation and Pay Gap for Women in Selected College Executive Posts, 2016

Almanac 2017 August 13, 2017

In two of the three executive positions in which women’s median salaries exceeded men’s, female representation was relatively low. But in one other area that had relatively low female representation among chief administrators, athletics, women earned only 84 percent of what their male counterparts did.

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In two of the three executive positions in which women’s median salaries exceeded men’s, female representation was relatively low. But in one other area that had relatively low female representation among chief administrators, athletics, women earned only 84 percent of what their male counterparts did.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store.


Position FemaleMaleFemale representationMedian salary for womenMedian salary for menWomen’s pay as % of men’s
Chief facilities officer 63 743 8% $138,529 $116,391 119%
Chief information/IT officer 186 725 20% $145,007 $135,091 107%
Chief student-affairs/student-life officer 411 399 51% $145,000 $141,440 103%
Chief executive, single institution or campus within a system 275 738 27% $295,000 $305,473 97%
Chief academic-affairs officer/provost 412 585 41% $187,246 $196,000 96%
Chief institutional-research officer 390 330 54% $91,800 $96,115 96%
Chief library officer 439 302 59% $95,185 $100,056 95%
Chief business officer 223 552 29% $176,610 $188,481 94%
Chief legal-affairs officer 166 201 45% $182,171 $200,000 91%
Chief human-resources officer 696 263 73% $110,000 $121,594 90%
Chief enrollment-management officer 277 394 41% $135,252 $153,306 88%
Chief public-relations officer 315 265 54% $108,228 $123,230 88%
Chief development/advancement officer 360 491 42% $150,956 $175,000 86%
Chief athletics administrator 136 646 17% $103,812 $123,277 84%
Chief financial officer 163 260 39% $147,000 $190,136 77%

Note: Data are based on a survey conducted in late 2016 and early 2017 that gathered information on 191 executive and senior-level-administrative positions at 1,125 institutions. Both public and private nonprofit, and both two-year and four-year, institutions participated in the survey.

Source: Bichsel, Jacqueline, and McChesney, Jasper. “The Gender Pay Gap and the Representation of Women in Higher Education Administrative Positions: The Century So Far.” Research report. College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), February 2017. Available from www.cupahr.org/surveys/briefs.aspx.

A version of this article appeared in the August 18, 2017, issue.
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