Catherwood LibraryILR School

Princeton University has entered an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to pay $925,000 in back pay and at least $250,000 in future salary adjustments to female professors who earned less money than their male peers. The agreement follows a review by OFCCP that found between 2012 and 2014, 106 female professors at Princeton received less pay than male professors. Princeton University spokesman Ben Chang claimed that the allegations were based on flawed statistical model and did not reflect how the university hires and compensates. However, Princeton to pursue an early resolution conciliation agreement and address the pay issues the Labor Department found in its review. In addition to paying nearly $1.2 million in back pay and salary adjustments, Princeton has agreed to conduct pay equity training for all individuals involved in the compensation process and will take steps to conduct statistical analysis to ensure that pay disparities don’t exist among male and female professors. The case of Princeton University highlights are larger trend throughout higher education as At four-year nonprofit colleges, senior-level male professors across the U.S. earned an average of $18,200 more per year than senior-level female professors, according to a 2017 study released by The Chronicle of Higher Education.