Princeton University Paying $1 Million Back Salary To 106 Professors

Princeton University, situated in Princeton, New Jersey, is paying nearly $1 million in back pay to its 106 female professors following a pay discrimination settlement with the Department of Labor, reports CNN.

Under the settlement, the Ivy League college has agreed to pay $925,000 in back pay and some $250,000 in future wages.

Following allegations of pay gap on the basis of gender against the university, established in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs launched an investigation.

The probe found that between the years of 2012 and 2014, 106 women professor at Princeton were paid less than their male counterparts, according to a press release issued earlier October by the Department.

In addition to paying the amount, the university authority has decided to make various changes like conducting pay equity trainings for all staff, statistical analyses to see if other disparities now exist or not.

Though the university agreed to pay the amount in back pay, the authority did not expressed its liability for the incident in the settlement.

Princeton spokesperson Ben Chang in a statement said that the university’s own statistical analyses for 2012-14 found no meaningful pay disparities based on gender.

According to the report by CNN, Princeton agreed to the resolution in an effort to avoid expensive and lengthy litigation.

Researchers at the Ohio State University in an investigation found an 11% wage gap between similarly qualified female and male professors, pointing to a greater problem in colleges in the USA when it comes to payment.

The university conducted the research based on HR data available in 2019.