Wittenborg Publishes Gender Pay Gap Report 2023

Women Lead in Management Roles While School Seeks to Address Gaps Among Faculty

As part of its efforts to promote equality among students and staff, including diverse cultures, genders and people with disabilities, Wittenborg recently released its first Gender Pay Gap Report, covering 2023. 

The report, which will be published annually, features data on all permanent and temporary staff employed at the school at any point during the reporting period, as well as freelance staff members. All of the school's campuses and study locations are covered, including Apeldoorn, Amsterdam and Munich.

Consistent with the nature of the organisation, most of Wittenborg’s staff members are faculty (68%), while non-academic and supporting roles account for 32%. 

Currently, 58% of all staff members are male while 42% are female. The most significant pay gaps are apparent when looking at employed staff. On average, male staff members’ mean hourly pay is 12.6% higher than it is for female staff members. When comparing median (middle) hourly pay, male staff members’ median hourly pay is 14.1% higher than it is for female staff members. 

The primary reason for this is that male staff members make up 62.6% of the school’s faculty. On average, these professionals earn salaries that are 18.9% higher than those of their female counterparts. 

This difference is caused by factors such as the age gap between male and female academics. While the average age of employed female faculty members is 43 years, the age of their male counterparts is 55 years, with more years of experience leading to higher pay.  

The qualifications of faculty members are another factor. In 2023, Wittenborg had 56 doctoral-level faculty members with PhD or Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degrees. Out of those, only 28.6% were female and 71.4% were male. Among the scholarly academics at Wittenborg, only 34% were female. 

However, the situation is reversed when only the professional employed staff is considered. Females represent 50.9% of this category, holding 66.7% of the school’s executive positions and making up 60% of the management team. As a result, female professional staff members earn on average 8.5% more than their male counterparts, with a median pay gap of 12.6%.

Measures to address gender gaps

While Wittenborg takes pride in the fact that the majority of its leadership roles are held by women, the institution seeks to increase female representation in its faculty.  

The school has been making significant progress in attracting more highly qualified female faculty members. Between 2022 and 2023, the percentage of doctoral-level female faculty members went up from 21.5% to 28.6%. Similarly, 34% of Wittenborg’s scholarly academic faculty members were female in 2023, against 20.4% in 2022. 

Additionally, the institution actively supports female faculty members to develop further and obtain higher qualifications. In 2023, it supported three female faculty members with their PhD or DBA studies, which represents 75% of faculty members receiving support with their studies. 

Wittenborg’s HR manager, Maike Zürcher, emphasises that resources like the Gender Pay Gap Report play a key role in advancing the school’s equality and inclusion efforts. “At Wittenborg, one of our priorities is to promote gender equality among our staff and students, aligned with the school’s core value of diversity. While we’ve made significant progress over the years, we continue to evolve and strive toward a more inclusive and equitable environment for women, as well as individuals of all nationalities, ethnicities, cultures and sexual orientations,” she stresses.

WUP 27/09/2024 
by Ulisses Sawczuk 
©WUAS Press