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A pay hike for female faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University, made in the name of all that is sacred — fairness for women — has created a brand new wage inequity.

In the small finance group at the university’s business and economics school, for instance, the two women who were hired at the same time as male colleagues and paid the same, received a raise of about $6,000 each, leaving the 13 men far behind. That hike is much larger than the typical increase for merit pay.

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The raises, announced out of the blue last May, were three per cent for all of Laurier’s female professors and 3.9 per cent for all female associate professors, and were retroactive to July of 2016. Depending on the stage of their careers, the hike may also mean a big boost to their pensionable earnings.

There were no consultations, no white paper internally, it was just – boom

The university has estimated the raise for 119 associate professors and 33 full professors will add $680,000 to its base costs.

Salaries for Laurier faculty range, depending on the discipline and whether associate or full professors, from $100,000 to upwards of $200,000.