Gender, Relative Salary Gaps, and Principal Turnover

• In Event: Salaries, Sorting, and Discrimination: Educator Compensation and Workforce Dynamics

Abstract

Introduction. Women continue to earn less than men with wider gender pay gaps for leadership roles (Blau & Kahn, 2017). This is especially concerning in education, a predominantly female workforce with disproportionately male leadership; three-quarters of teachers are female while half of principals are women (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Recent research finds that female principals earn 1-2 percent less than male principals even after accounting for supply-side explanations, such as differences in qualifications, mobility, and workplace sorting, suggesting discrimination (Grissom et al., 2021).  Salary is also negatively related to principal turnover (Rangel, 2017). However, salary relative to peers, rather than overall amount, may be more germane to principals’ employment decisions because individuals perceive wage satisfaction through relative standing (Akerlof & Yellen, 1986). Wage fairness, earning as much as peers, has a strong relationship with principal turnover (Pendola, 2022) and may be particularly salient when examining gender pay gaps and their effects. 

Purpose. We provide some of the first descriptions of salary disparities between male and female principals relative to their peers, subordinates, and previous positions as well as explanations for these differences and their relationships with turnover. Specifically, we ask:
1. Do female principals receive relatively lower salaries than their peers, subordinates, and prior job?
2. To what extent can these gaps be explained by differences in supply-side characteristics?
3. How does the relationship between relative salary and principal retention differ by gender? 

We contribute to the literature by (1) applying a relative-pay framework to study gender wage gaps in education and, in particular, among public sector leaders. (2) examining how educator responses to relative wage vary by gender. We not only conceptualize relative wages as relative to peers but subordinates and prior positions.  

Methods. We use publicly available employment records for all Pennsylvania educators over 18 years to construct three relative principal salary measures: salary ranking compared to other principals in their region, the percent difference between their salary and mean subordinate salary, and the percent difference between their principal salary and last salary.  First, we examine average differences in our relative salary measures by gender. Then, we perform Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions that estimate how much of the gender gaps in our relative wage measures can be explained by supply-side characteristics (e.g., experience, degree, school characteristics, and mobility). Finally, we estimate exit from current position and the principalship as a function of relative salary, gender, and their interactions using linear probability and hazard models.  

Findings. Preliminary results show that female principals earn relatively lower salaries. Differences in qualifications and job mobility only explain some of these disparities, suggesting some discrimination. Although lower salary rankings are associated with higher turnover, we do not find gender differences, suggesting that men and women respond similarly to perceived wage unfairness.  

Implications. Districts will likely need to implement intentional efforts, such as principal salary equity audits, to address relative salary pay gaps. Rewarding loyalty, decreasing responsiveness to highly mobile school leaders, and encouraging women to obtain outside offers may also be promising strategies.

Author

• Danielle Sanderson Edwards, Old Dominion University
  Presenting Author