The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the visibility of economic inequality and the inadequacy of current minimum wage laws in the United States. Changes in the minimum wage, a living wage, or just employment practices may be compelled by law or voluntarily enacted by employers. A literature search failed to yield a concise and practical tool to…

Student affairs professionals are at risk of leaving both their jobs and higher education in general. A survey of higher ed professionals was conducted in May of 2022 examining student affairs professionals' likelihood of leaving their jobs, why they are considering leaving, and what factors may contribute to their retention. Results revealed that…

Many of the gender and racial wage gaps found in society are also seen within higher education, with less diversity among college administrators, faculty, and staff than the United States population as a whole. Postsecondary institutions alone cannot correct the systemic inequities that limit socioeconomic mobility and racial justice, but they can…

As an employer, the public sector might be expected to be more meritocratic than the private sector, because of its democratic values and more transparent appointments procedures. In this context meritocratic means that the employer only considers characteristics such as degree and grades, relevant for the position in question. The individuals in…

There has been a substantial disparity in the job prospects between higher education graduates from urban regions and those from the countryside in China. In other words, higher education graduates from cities find it easier to obtain jobs and to obtain better jobs than their peers who have grown up in the countryside. Against this background, the…

The effects of reliance on part-time faculty in higher education have been much discussed of late. Most observers now agree that the increasing reliance on contingent academic labor has worrisome consequences for both students and faculty. The authors recently attempted to provide needed analysis of what drives the current reliance on part-time…

It is the thesis of this booklet, one of a series intended to apply economic principles to major social and political issues of the day, that minimum wage laws actually hurt those whom such laws are designed to help. From this point of departure, separate subsections examine economic implications of minimum wage laws, including discussion of what…

The typical working woman is thought to make 60% of a man's wage, despite increased job skills. Facts prove this perception incorrect. Lack of progress is an artifact of changing labor market characteristics associated with the rapid growth in the numbers of women in the labor market. Low skills, low wage female entrants tend to hold down the…

A study at one public university investigated the annualized rate of salary/wage increase of employees from the time of hiring until July 1992. It examined promotion patterns, equity adjustments, employee degree acquisition, and certification of clerical workers. The study underscored the wide variation in earnings growth rates due in large part…

This document contains 29 statistical tables grouped into five sections: "General Statistics,""Occupations and Earnings,""Earnings of Selected Professional Occupations,""Women and Higher Education," and "Family Income and Composition." Among the tables are those that show the following: (1) 1991 annual average U.S. civilian work force by…

Wage analyses of several government surveys suggest that substantial, broad-based reductions in real wages occurred in the final years of the 1980s recovery. (Data sources are the hourly compensation data from the Employment Cost Index series and wage data from the Current Population Survey.) The wages of those who lost the most in the 1980s (high…

Resolution of the comparable worth controversy involves judicial enforcement of statutory mandates and remedial development of bias-free evaluation systems, wage negotiation, and possible restructuring of work positions. Remedies will be developed when wage discrimination is no longer tolerable. (AVAIL: University of San Diego School of Law, San…

In court litigation in which women prison guards' claim of pay discrimination was rejected at the local level, the Supreme Court ruled that the case could be debated based on workers'"comparable worth" instead of "equal work," the traditional argument. Further litigation on the comparable worth issue is anticipated. (MSE)

Reports a survey of 163 advertising graduates of a large university. Finds that women in advertising earn significantly less than males. Recommends addressing the issue of salary discrimination in research, teaching, and career advising. (SR)

Qualifications have become academic currency. Apart from adding to the success and fluency with which people can move or be transferred from job to job, nationally and internationally, qualifications also serve to shape individuals' perceptions of their own worth because of their impact on their holders' expectations and prospects, as well as…