Gender parity and the gender salary gapNote 1: Progress of full-time university academics over the last 40 years

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Release date: March 24, 2021
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Infographic: Gender parity and the gender salary gap: Progress of full-time university academics over the last 40 years
Description: Gender parity and the gender salary gap: Progress of full-time university academics over the last 40 years

Gender parity and the gender salary gap: Progress of full-time university academics over the last 40 years

The share of female academics has been increasing at all ranks. 

Table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1. The information is grouped by Rank (appearing as row headers), 1979 and 2019 (appearing as column headers).
Rank 1979 2019
Full Professor 4.4% 30.0%
Associate professor 12.5% 43.9%
Assistant professor 23.0% 50.2%

Men are overrepresented in older age groups. Among academics 65 and older, 73% are men and 77% of men are full professors. 

Table 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 2. The information is grouped by Age group (appearing as row headers), Number of full-time academics (appearing as column headers).
Age group Number of full-time academics
Female Male
Assistant Professor 3792 3756
Under 40 1941 2145
40 - 44 789 780
45 - 49 450 387
50 - 54 261 195
55 - 59 192 114
60 - 64 114 87
65 - 69 36 33
70 - 74 9 9
75+ Note x: suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act 6
Associate Professor 6744 8631
Under 40 600 789
40 - 44 1380 1779
45 - 49 1494 1839
50 - 54 1176 1488
55 - 59 972 1236
60 - 64 729 849
65 - 69 309 417
70 - 74 63 183
75+ 21 51
Full Professor 4995 11688
Under 40 21 33
40 - 44 240 531
45 - 49 708 1497
50 - 54 972 2097
55 - 59 1182 2442
60 - 64 1071 2418
65 - 69 549 1521
70 - 74 192 804
75+ 60 345
x suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act

In 2019, salary ranges for men were wider than for women.  Maximum salaries tend to be higher for men. 

Table 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3. The information is grouped by Year of Survey (appearing as row headers), Rank, Gender, 10th Percentile, Median and 90th Percentile (appearing as column headers).
Year of Survey Rank Gender 10th Percentile Median 90th Percentile
2019 Full professor Male $136,108 $168,499 $219,970
2019 Full professor Female $132,380 $161,644 $206,115
2019 Associate professor Male $107,775 $132,878 $173,671
2019 Associate professor Female $106,173 $130,793 $168,005
2019 Assistant professor Male $88,927 $108,580 $143,745
2019 Assistant professor Female $87,075 $104,484 $134,435

Over the last 40 years, the ratio of women’s to men’s median salaries has narrowed for full professors and associate professors. 

Table 4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 4 1979 and 2019 (appearing as column headers).
1979 2019
Full professor 94.8% 95.9%
Associate professor 95.8% 98.4%
Assistant professor 97.2% 96.2%

Among full professors in 2019, women earned more on average than men in certain fields. 

Table 5
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 5 2019 (appearing as column headers).
2019
Education 101.5%
Humanities 100.8%
Health professions and related programs 100.8%
Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies 99.9%
Mathematics and computer sciences 98.9%
Agriculture, natural resources and conservation 98.8%
Social and behavioural sciences, and law 96.1%
Engineering, architecture, and related technologies 95.6%
Physical sciences 93.8%
Business, management and public administration 90.7%

Source:  Statistics Canada, Full-time – University and College Academic Staff System (FT-UCASS).

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