Grounds for subjective assessment of academic and teaching staff pay equity

Equity is defined as a correlation between a person's merits and their remuneration. The article deals with social and labour equity, regarding it as a subjective assessment of the ratio of payments for the physical and/or intellectual efforts of employees. The article aims to determine the grounds for the subjective assessment of academic and teaching staff pay equity. The empirical study was conducted in 2019-2020, based on expert interviews with 86 faculty members of leading Russian universities (University of Tyumen, Tomsk State University, Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University, and National Research Nuclear University MEPhI). The expert interview narratives allowed identifying seven categories for assessing subjective perception of pay equity (1) at a corporate level; comparing faculty members (2) in Russia and (3) internationally; (4) in terms of public/business organisations; (5) different spheres of activity; (6) historical periods; and (7) previous positions held either in the same or other organizations. The results show that (1) disparity in pay within a university (between structural units and positions) can reduce motivation or increase career aspirations. A high level of social and labour equity provides a sense of stability and increases organisational productivity. (2) The level of pay equity in Russian universities depends on their prestige and ranking. (3) When comparing the level of remuneration and the workload with their Western colleagues, the respondents were more likely to prioritise Russia. Employees experienced in international academic mobility choose to work in Russia. (4) Compared to other spheres of activity, university wages are mostly lower whereas faculty members appreciate the opportunity to increase their income through active scientific research. (5) The last 3-5 years have seen a positive change in pay equity, with teachers and other jobs compared. (6) Comparison between historical periods shows a positive assessment of the current situation in Russia. However, not all the respondents believe in the long term perspective. (7) Pay at the early career is the lowest, but the teaching and research load is high. Young teachers invest a lot of time in career development, working on their dissertations. Pay equity assessment by teachers of retirement age is high, due to family stability and availability of additional funding (e.g. pension, support by children).

Keywords

Authors

References