%0 Report
        %A Cieply, Isea
%A Barros, Laura
%A Silbersdorff, Alexander
%A Kneib, Thomas
%A Kis-Katos, Krisztina
        %T Why Female Professors Earn Less: The Role of Retention Negotiations and Performance Bonuses
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Feb
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18376
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp18376
        %X How large is the gender pay gap among university professors, and how do institutional pay-setting mechanisms shape this disparity? This paper provides novel empirical evidence on the gender pay gap among professors at a renowned German university. Using detailed human resources data for the time span 2013 to 2021, we document a statistically significant conditional gender pay gap in professorial salaries of 5.2%, after controlling for employment characteristics, socio-demographics, performance measures, and faculty and year fixed effects. Our findings show that these differentials can be attributed mainly to lower returns from retention negotiations, which have a particularly strong impact during the earlier stages of academic careers. These results highlight the importance of pay system designs in promoting gender equity in academia.
        %K gender pay gap
%K gender economics
%K wage differentials
%K wage negotiations
%K professorial salaries