To the Editor:
I am writing to comment on your recent article about equal pay ("Equal Pay Day aims to raise awareness," April 26). In the page three continuation of the article, which had the headline "Salary discrepancy 22 percent at College" you refer to a 2005 study by the American Association of University Professors which showed a 22 percent gender gap in salary -- which, incidentally, applied to full professors only, not across all ranks.
I am a full professor at the College and was certainly interested in the results of the study last spring. This concern was also felt by Dartmouth's senior administrators, who acted quickly and thoroughly in response. Salary data across all ranks, which are regularly monitored by the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, were thoroughly reviewed by a group comprising the Provost, the academic deans and other top administrators. An independent, nationally recognized expert in faculty salary analysis was then hired to undertake a multiple regression study, examining the data for correlations with a number of key factors. The results were unambiguous and showed that, after controlling for the effects of experience, seniority and academic field/discipline, there was no evidence of a statistically significant pay disparity between male and female faculty at Dartmouth. The summary of results and conclusions was examined this fall by the Committee on the Faculty, of which I am the Chair, and we discussed the findings with Provost Scherr and Michelle Meyers, head of the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity. Members of the CoF were very satisfied both with the institutional response and with the quality of the analysis which was done.
Speaking as an individual, a woman in the work force of the United States, I share the concerns which were the main subject of your article on pay disparity; where it exists it is shameful. Speaking as a female full professor at Dartmouth I am pleased to report that this institution is not part of the problem you so eloquently described.
