Faculty Pay is Arbitrary – And That’s Putting It Nicely!

There are various reasons why one professional may be compensated differently than another, particularly in a university setting with faculty. Wood Rogers Principals Victor Cardwell and Leah Stiegler recently authored an article for University Business that cautions higher education leaders to ensure that pay disparity among faculty is not unlawful, even if it seems arbitrary.

There are often valid reasons why one faculty member may be compensated higher than another.

“A university generally has to demonstrate that the pay disparity was actually based on non-discriminatory factors (in other words, factors other than professors’ protected characteristics),” Victor and Leah write. “A university cannot simply step back when a pay discrimination claim is filed and count out the differences between the claimant and other professors in the department. Indeed, a university must “go back in time” and prove that at the time, the pay decisions were made, those decisions were based on lawful, non-discriminatory factors.”

The complete article is available in University Business here.