Analyzing the gender wage gap among Queen’s top-earning employees

‘The Journal’ breaks down key details of the 2021 Sunshine List

Image by: Curtis Heinzl
Data since 1996 show trends among female top-earners on the Sunshine List.

The number of top female earners at Queen’s has steadily increased since 1996, the Ontario sunshine list reveals.

The sunshine list shares data on the top earners at Ontario institutions, publicizing the names of individuals who earn $100,000 CAD or more at the end of each fiscal year.

Released in March 2022, the most recent information is about the 2021 fiscal year. The Journal cross-checked the values with the Ontario public sector salary disclosure 2021 reports.

In the 2021 sunshine list, 560 individuals identified as female and 714 as male. 1,286 earners at Queen’s had salaries of $100,000 or more. The total number of earners reaching the list income threshold was up 5.5 per cent from the 2020 report.

There has been a gender wage gap among top earners at Queen’s on the sunshine list present since 1996. Over the last 25 years, female salaries have averaged $142,135 and male salaries $148,117.

On the 2021 list, average female salaries at Queen’s were below average male salaries, at $156,138 and $169,779, respectively. The average salary of Queen’s employees on the list was $163,929.

Queen’s had the highest female to male earner ratio since 1996–so, more women made over $100,000 this year than in any other reported year. 

The female to male ratio of top earners at Queen’s increased by 18.6 per cent from 2001 to 2011, slowing to a 7.6 per cent increase from 2011 to 2021.

The list was 17.8 per cent female in 2001, 36.4 per cent female in 2011, and 44 per cent female in 2021.

Female average salaries increased slightly more than male average salaries at Queen’s in 2021, at 3.8 per cent—male salaries increased by 3.7 per cent.

Tina Dacin, a professor in the Smith School of Business, earned the highest salary at Queen’s. She received a significant salary increase when she became the Director of the Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility in 2008. This was the second-largest increase in salary Queen’s has ever seen, jumping 160.59 per cent, from $182,807 to $476,372.

The most common job position for earners on the Queen’s list were professors, who make an average $181,280 salary.

Earners on the list at the University of Toronto were paid less than Queen’s earners, with an average salary of $161,855 among 4,984 individuals. 45.3 per cent of the earners were women. 

The average salary at the University of Western Ontario was $159,749 among 1,507 individuals, and 39 per cent of the earners on the list were women.

The lists only indicate differences in gender among top earners and does not indicate any statistics regarding LGBTQ+ or BIPOC earners.

Tags

gender wage gap, Queen's, Sunshine List, U of T, Western

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