Links

The Women and Financial Independence program at Smith College prepares undergraduate students to take control of their financial futures. Through courses and events, the program educates women about such topics as investing and entrepreneurship and helps them map their paths toward “financial security.” Course notes and materials, as well as a toolkit full of related resources, are available free online at www.smith.edu/wfi.

In 2006, the American Association of University Professors released its vital report on gender equity for faculty in higher education. The report named “average salary for full-time faculty” as one of four key indicators of faculty gender equity, and described the pay gap for faculty at different institutional types and levels of employment. To read about this and other indicators, download the full report at www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/research/geneq2006.

The New Faculty Majority (National Coalition for Adjunct and Contingent Equity) advocates for “economic justice and academic freedom for all faculty,” including through equal pay, benefits, and insurance. In addition to issues of compensation, the organization works to addresses a range of inequities related to governance and academic freedom. To learn more or access informational resources, visit www.newfacultymajority.info.

AAUW provides national leadership in supporting research that details how the pay gap affects women’s lives. With publications including a 2005 phone survey on public perceptions of the pay gap and an influential 2007 report on the pay gap’s sources, the organization is raising awareness about this important aspect of gender equity. To download Behind the Pay Gap and other resources, visit www.aauw.org/learn/research/current.cfm.

In September 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau released a breakdown of the gender wage gap by state based on the 2008 American Community Survey. The report indicated that in comparisons of median annual income, American women who work full time and year round make 77.9 percent of what their male counterparts make. The brief publication includes a map of the wage gap by state as well as detailed state-by-state statistics. To access the report, visit www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/acsbr08-3.pdf.

In April 2009, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research released a fact sheet detailing the gender wage gap by occupation. Drawing from statistics on median weekly earnings, the fact sheet illustrates the persistence of the gender wage gap across professions, with a particular focus on the most popular and the highest paid jobs for women and men, respectively. The fact sheet also includes an analysis by race and ethnicity. To download the fact sheet, visit www.iwpr.org/pdf/C350a.pdf.