Female professors and associate professors in Nijmegen earn less money, on average, than their male colleagues. Women who are university lecturers however, earn a little more. The results from the university's study into the pay gap show this.

Last year, research done by the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH) already showed that female scientists are paid less than their male colleagues. Because of that, Radboud’s department of personnel and organisation (DPO) started a study to get more insight into the pay gap at the Nijmegen campus.

Salary scales
The report is now finished and it shows that Nijmegen also has a pay gap between male and female scientists. According to the report, the differences in salary cannot be explained by criteria such as age or contract form. Just like the LNVH report shows, women are underrepresented in higher positions such as professor and associate professor. And within those positions, women are often in lower position levels – so in lower salary scales. Men are more often classified ‘professor 1’ and women ‘professor 2’. And within that last position, men averagely make 114 euros more.

On top of that, men are often ‘associate professor 1’, while women also have a 2 in their job description there. The differences in salary become smaller for university lecturers, and are more kind to women in that position. As a ‘university lecturer 1’, women averagely make 8 euros more than men.

Differences faculties
In the study, researchers also looked at the pay gap per faculty. It turns out that male professors earn significantly more at the law faculty (680 euros more), the science faculty (570 neuros more) and at social sciences faculty (600 euros more). When they are associate professor, women are best of at the science faculty. They earn 450 euros more than their male counterparts. Female associate professors at humanities also earn more than their male counterparts (146 euros).

Female associate professors at the science faculty earn 210 euros more than their male colleagues and at philosophy, theology and religion sciences, the female associate professor is also in a good position: she earns 140 euros more.

‘Our starting point is that differences in salary between men and women are unacceptable’

Economy professor Agnes Akkerman, who conducted the research, warns for too far-fetching conclusions concerning the differences between faculties. ‘When the number of employees in a certain position is low, which is often the case at a faculty level, one exception has a large effect on the average.’

The executive board and the faculties have agreed to analyse the numbers and take ‘appropriate measures’, based on the outcome of the analysis. ‘Our starting point is that differences in salary between men and women are unacceptable’, says the board.