The study looked at the positions of assistant professor, associate professor and full professor. Women in these positions earn an average of 390 euros a month less than men of the same age. At a gross salary of on average 5723 euros, this pay gap amounts to nearly 7 percent less pay.
In practice, male researchers are older on average than their female counterparts. The pay gap between men and women is therefore a bit bigger in reality: a male researcher earns an average of 799 euros gross (nearly 14 percent) more per month than a female researcher.
The figures have not been specified for the 14 participating universities. That is the plan, says director of Corporate Human Resources Ingrid Lammerse. ‘At the moment I am making an inventory among the HR directors of the universities and it appears that most of them are going to conduct their own research.’ Lammerse’s department is going to do this for Wageningen. ‘We shall look at whether the results of the LNHV report apply to us too. I expect our results in the first quarter of next year.’
The difference in the monthly pay packet at the same age is greatest among full professors, according to the report: 438 euros. After that come the assistant professors (41 euros) and the associate professors (40 euros). At the grade of Associate Professor 1, though, something unusual is going on: here women are earning more (57 euros). But the researchers say this is because successful women at that level are rewarded with a higher salary, while successful men are promoted to full professorships.