We reported on the top 50 faculty salaries at Ohio University in Wednesday’s Post, and what we found was unsettling.
Of the 50 highest-paid faculty members at OU, only seven are women. Of the top 25, just two are women. These figures starkly contrast the university’s commitment to diversity.
While the discrepancy may be little more than a coincidence, it raises a red flag.
Just 14 percent of the university’s 50 highest-paid faculty members are women, and — although The Post has yet to be provided its recently requested breakdown of faculty by gender — we think it’s probably safe to say that more than 14 percent of OU faculty members are female. They should be represented as such at the top.
Furthermore, the university’s Faculty Senate chair told The Post that she wasn’t taken aback by our findings.
“On the one hand, I’m not surprised, because the highest-paid fields tend to be those in which women have been historically most underrepresented,” Beth Quitslund, Faculty Senate chair and an associate professor of English, said to a reporter in an email. “On the other hand, it’s still depressing to hear confirmed.”
We agree, and we would like to report improved findings this time next year.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors.
