Let’s Talk Money: Building Community Understanding of the Institutional Compensation System
An NSF ADVANCE Partnership Project
Goals
Building understanding of university pay practices and outcomes.
Incorporating an equity lens into pay decisions.
Expanding productive conversations about pay.
Improving communication of pay decisions.
Strategies
Engage administrators and faculty in a collaborative relationship to improve salary equity.
Enhance decision makers’ understanding of pay decisions and their ability to communicate to individuals how their pay is determined.
Increase faculty knowledge of institutional pay practices and how they relate to institutional values.
Benefits of Building Community Understanding of the Compensation System
Transparency | Clear processes and outcomes enhance an institution’s culture, and transparent pay is associated with equity (Obloj & Zenger, 2022).
Productivity | Equitable pay increases engagement and productivity (Chamberlain, 2015).
Inclusion | Demonstrating fairness increases a sense of inclusiveness (Haignere, 2002)
Satisfaction | Job satisfaction and intention to stay are linked to pay outcomes and perceptions.
Reputation |Attention to pay equity enhances the institution’s reputation for fairness (Valian, 2013; Lytle, 2014).
Recruitment | Institutional reputation impacts attractiveness to underrepresented groups (Valian, 2013).
Retention |Satisfied faculty stay, and reduce faculty replacement costs (Flaherty, 2016).
Developing Leaders | Retaining faculty is the first step to developing future leaders of the institution.