'Time is up for pay disparity': University of Cincinnati paid female professor half as much

She won a campus-wide teaching award. And she was paid half as much as a male professor who had the same job.

A retired geography professor sued the University of Cincinnati for violating her right to equal pay, and this month she received more than $200,000 from the university.

Colleen McTague said she did it for her daughter.

She did it for her students and colleagues.

She did it for women.

“I hope it’s a wake-up call for the University of Cincinnati,” she said of her victory. “I hope other women faculty who aren’t being compensated equally find the courage to ask for rectification. And I hope that UC is a little bit more willing to make a level playing field for women.”

The university declined to comment on the case, including whether it is taking corrective action or looking at its pay practices.

McTague, now 64, was hired as an assistant geography professor in 2007 after earning her doctorate from UC. She started out making $52,000 a year, which she said was almost $20,000 less than what her male predecessor made when he was hired.

McTague tried to negotiate with her department head but was given excuses why he was paid more.

She let it go – at first.

About six months later, another man with the same credentials was hired at a base salary that was about $14,000 higher than McTague’s, she said.

Again, she went to the department head asking for equal pay and again was told no.

McTague went back to him the next day and asked for a raise. This time, she was greeted with “a very sexist comment.”

“He looked at me and said I must wear the pants in my family,” McTague said. “He completely shut the conversation down and that was the end of it.”

Katie Neff, an employment attorney who represented McTague, said she hopes women will continue to ask: “How much am I getting paid compared to the men who sit next to me?”

She knows it’s not easy, though.

“There is this fear that by asking to be paid equally or insisting on a certain amount of money you’re going to be viewed as aggressive,” Neff said, “which with a woman is a bad thing. With a man, it’s ‘he’s a go-getter.’"

UC hired two more men as assistant geography professors at $68,000 and $70,000, McTague said. Again, under the same job description as hers.

“I realized it wasn’t an exception,” McTague said. “There seemed to be a consistent pattern.”

She taught for seven years as a tenure-track assistant professor in the geography department and won the campus' distinguished Mrs. A.B. Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2011.

McTague remained the lowest-paid faculty member in the department.

When she retired in 2014 she was making $59,634. One of her male colleagues was earning about $125,000 in total compensation, including his base salary and stipends for travel and research, McTague's lawyers said. McTague didn't get those same stipends.

That’s when McTague realized how much she should’ve earned in retirement benefits, which are based on the last three years of her salary. The difference in benefits between her and the male professor who made nearly $125,000 was about $6,000 every year.

The year McTague retired female professors at UC were making about $17,000 less on average than their male colleagues. Female assistant professors campus-wide made about $4,000 less than male peers.

It took legal action to get equal pay

In February 2015, McTague filed a federal lawsuit against UC for gender discrimination, retaliation and violating The Equal Pay Act, which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination among workers who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility.

"The Equal Pay Act passed in 1963 and we still pay women less than men," said Randy Freking, another employment attorney who represented McTague. “Time is up for pay disparity in this country.”

The civil rights case took three years to see a resolution, but “it was worth it,” McTague said.

On Feb. 16 UC and McTague reached a $212,500 settlement, which covered the differences in wages and retirement between her and the men she worked alongside.

“Absolutely,” this is a win, she said. “I just wish I would’ve won when I was hired.”

Neff said she wants women to feel more empowered to speak up because that’s when change will happen.

It won't be so taboo when men or the people in positions of power who are making those decisions start to hear woman after woman after woman asking for the same pay or what they deserve, she said.

Women earn less than men at local universities

In 2017, women were paid nearly 20 percent less than their male co-workers performing the same job nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Differences are often attributed to factors such as women taking time out of the workforce to have children and gravitating toward lower-paying work.

At UC, female professors made on average 85 percent of what their male counterparts made during the 2016-17 academic year, according to data released by the American Association University Professors. Women's salaries were about $20,000 less than men's.

The wage gap between men and women at Miami was slightly narrower that year. Female professors made 89 percent of men's salaries, or $14,000 less.

At NKU, female professors made 92 percent of what male professors made during the 2016-2017 academic year. On average, that's more than a $7,000 difference.

Among local schools, Xavier University came closest to having equal numbers and pay. Male professors still made more, on average, but there was only about a $2,000 difference in their paychecks, which is less than two percent.