Unresolved Issues in Salary–Equity Studies: New Directions for Institutional Research, Number 117(J–B IR Single Issue Institutional Research)

Chapters discuss the issues surrounding how to use faculty rank, seniority, and experience as control variables in salary equity studies. Contributors review the challenges of conducting a salary equity study for nonfaculty administrators and staff who constitute the majority of employees, even in academic institutions and examine the advantages and disadvantages of using hierarchical linear modeling to measure pay equity. They present a case study approach to illustrate the political and practical challenges that researchers often face when conducting a salary equity study for an institution. This is a companion volume to "Conducting Salary Equity Studies: Alternative Approaches to Research (IR115)".

Table of Contents:
EDITOR'S NOTES (Robert K. Toutkoushian).1. Measuring Gender Bias in the Salaries of Tenured Faculty Members (William E. Becker and Robert K. Toutkoushian) The authors examine how analysts have treated rank in faculty salary models and the problems associated with either including or excluding controls for rank. A sample selection statistical procedure is then used to correct for the effects on salary of gender bias in promotion from associate to full professor.2. From Here to Seniority: The Effect of Experience and Job Tenure on Faculty Salaries (Debra A. Barbezat) Researchers use different ways to measure the effects of seniority and experience on faculty earnings. The author reviews some of the theoretical reasons why the return on seniority may be different in academia than in other labor markets. She argues that the negative return on seniority and the extent of salary compression have been overstated by previous researchers and are greatly affected by the salary model specification used.3. Addressing Gender Equity in Nonfaculty Salaries (Robert K. Toutkoushian) In this chapter (reprinted from Research in Higher Education), the author discusses the challenges involved in conducting a salary-equity study for nonfaculty academic employees and shows how such an analysis was conducted at one institution. In an Epilogue added to the chapter, the author describes how the institution reacted to the study.4. Hierarchical Linear Modeling in Salary-Equity Studies (Jane W. Loeb) The author provides information on how hierarchical linear modeling can be used as an alternative to multiple regression analysis for conducting salary-equity studies. Salary data are used to compare and contrast the two approaches.5. Conducting the Salary-Equity Study: A Consultant's View (Gerald W. McLaughlin and Josetta S. McLaughlin) A case-study approach illustrates the various statistical and political issues that analysts encounter when conducting a salary-equity study for a single institution. The chapter highlights the importance of integrating various stakeholders in the process of assessing salary equity.INDEX.