Princeton to pay $1m to female professors in gender discrimination case

Princeton University settles pay discrimination case

Credit: Sam Wenig/AP

Princeton University has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in compensation to female professors to settle a gender discrimination case brought by the US Department of Labour.

In addition to the $925,000 (£713,000) backpay, the Ivy League college has also set aside a further $250,000 (£193,000) to close the salary gap in the future.

The case was brought by the Department of Labour following an investigation by its office of federal contract compliance programmes which found that 106 women professors were paid less than their male counterparts.

They will share the settlement between them.

Princeton, which denies any wrongdoing, has also agreed to carry out further studies to see if other salary disparities emerge and will also conduct "pay equity" training for its staff.

The Department of Labour began its investigation into Princeton, one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the US, nearly a decade ago.

In 2016 it ended the review, having found no evidence of discrimination, but then re-opened it the following year.

University spokesman,  Ben Chang, said Princeton was committed to equal pay but had reached an agreement with the Department rather than face prolonged litigation.

"Princeton is firmly committed to pay equity for two reasons: First, a commitment to equity is fundamental to our mission and valuable for its own sake," he added.

"Second, our mission depends on recruiting world-class talent to our faculty, and to do so we must draw scholars from every sector of society and support all of our faculty fairly and equitably."

Wage discrimination has been illegal in the US since the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, although exceptions are made on the grounds of seniority or merit.

According to Census Bureau data from 2018 women on average earn 18 per cent less than their male counterparts.