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Though the number of women in higher education leadership roles has increased since 2002, pay equity hasn’t kept pace, according to the Administrators in Higher Education Survey released Tuesday by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

Since 2002, proportion of women in higher education administrative jobs has increased from 44 percent to 51 percent. In 2002, women in education administration earned $0.90 for every $1 their male peers earned; 20 years later, the pay disparity was $0.93 for every $1 men earned. Native American and Alaskan Native women earned $0.83 for every $1 paid to white men.

One area that saw strong growth for women was the provost position. In 2002, women accounted for 31 percent of provosts; in 2022 that figure had risen to 48 percent.

CUPA-HR also found that more people of color, including women, now occupy administrative roles compared to roughly a decade ago. In 2012, women of color comprised 7 percent of higher education administrators, a figure that ticked up to 10 percent in 2022. For men of color, representation increased from 6 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2022.

White women made up 41 percent of the administrative workforce in 2012 and 43 percent in 2022, while white men slipped from 46 percent in 2012 to 39 percent in 2022.

The CUPA-HR study concludes with a series of recommendations to improve pay equity, including conducting a pay equity analysis with peer compensation data, enhancing or developing strategies to recruit a more diverse workforce in higher education’s administrative ranks and boosting retention strategies for administrators of color.