As one of the first women’s institutions of higher education in the United States, Vassar College is proud to be a pioneer in women’s education and deeply committed to gender equality.
Yet Vassar, a liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York (with tuition this year of $67,000), has systematically paid its female professors less than their male counterparts for the past two decades. This was revealed in a recent report. federal lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed last month by five former or current tenured faculty members, has stirred up controversy on leftist campuses over allegations of unequal pay, delayed promotions for female professors, and a discriminatory performance evaluation system.
Last week, hundreds of students rallied outside the faculty hall to demand that female professors be paid the same salaries as men. On campuses where the promise of gender equality is attractive to job seekers, A university culture of diversity and equitymany students interviewed said they felt betrayed by the issues raised by the lawsuit.
Soler Kirkdacker, a senior who helped organize the protest, said he was “outraged” by the allegations.
“They really tapped into this idea of promoting the advancement of women in higher education, and that’s what really attracted me,” she said. She said, “I felt very cheated by Vassar.”
Adopt the university’s current fundraising slogan.Deliver results without fear” Several students said they were determined to “fearlessly deliver results” by defending the values Vassar claims to stand for.
“I feel like it’s the culmination of my education here,” said Charlie Kanner, a recent graduate and rally organizer. “It feels really special to be able to support our professors with all the skills they have given us.”
In a show of solidarity, dozens of professors attended the faculty meeting wearing white. Some educators arrived at the meeting and became visibly emotional as students cheered outside.about 35 full and retired Vassar professors. He signed a letter supporting the lawsuit.
Officials at Vassar College, which became coeducational in 1969, have issued multiple statements defending the school but declined interview requests.
“Vassar College has worked diligently and consistently on issues of faculty and pay equity since January 2019,” board chairman Anthony J. Friscia said in a statement posted on the school’s bulletin board. said in a statement. Website After a lawsuit has been filed. “He believes Vassar pays its teachers fairly and equitably and complies with the law, and he wants to resolve this issue.”
Elizabeth Bradley, president of Vassar, said: said in letter to the editor Published in the student newspaper, The Miscellaneous News, she said she knew the allegations might “confuse, anger and hurt many people in the community.”
However, she wrote, “the teachers who brought this lawsuit have different understandings of the relevant facts and law at issue in this dispute.”
Bradley said in a statement to the New York Times last week that Vassar had agreed to allow the faculty committee to hire an independent compensation analysis firm to conduct a pay review and would act on the results. Ta.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit cite salary data released by the university, which they argue shows Vassar administrators have known about the pay disparity for years.
In the 2003-2004 academic year, female full professors earned on average about 7 percent ($7,770) less than their male counterparts, according to data published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Since then, data shows the gap has widened further. During the 2021-2022 academic year, male full professors earned an average of $153,238, about 10 percent ($13,900) more than women with the same degree.
The disparity is most pronounced among professors with the longest tenure, the suit says, because women are often employed at lower salaries and raises are usually given as percentage increases.
Vassar officials do not dispute the data, but say the disparities are related to differences in seniority, discipline and peer evaluations.
Not all Vassard professors are protesting. Sarah Perlman, an economics professor who teaches on gender issues, said she would like to see more information about salaries before drawing conclusions.
“I really want that information, but unfortunately I don’t feel like we can get it,” she said.
Other universities have also come under increased scrutiny for pay disparities in recent years. princetonFor example, it agreed to pay nearly $1 million to 106 female professors in 2020 after a federal pay equity investigation.
Vassar College’s gender pay gap is smaller than the average in academia: U.S. female professors earn more 17.7% less than their male peersAccording to data released by the American Association of University Professors.
Jessica Stender, Deputy Director of Legal Affairs equal rights advocate Lawyers for the Vassar plaintiffs said they were surprised the university had not taken more steps to address the pay gap, given its status as a standard-bearer for women’s education. seven sisters A consortium of historic women’s universities.
The possibility that such a problem exists at Vassar “shows how deep and pervasive the problem of pay discrimination is in our society,” she said.
