Equal pay analysis, no significant gender disparity at USI

Università della Svizzera italiana, like any employer with a workforce of more than 100 people, is required to conduct an equal pay analysis. This analysis, carried out on academic and administrative staff, found that there were no significant salary differences when individual qualification and job characteristics were taken into account. On average, women earn 16.2% less than men, a difference due to the fact that positions of high responsibility are mainly held by men, as also emerged from the first USI Gender Budget. "The absence of unexplained disparities is certainly a positive result, but the low presence of women in top positions, particularly in the academic body, is unsatisfactory and spurs us to work even harder for a better gender balance," explained Professor Sonja Hildebrand, pro-chancellor for equal opportunity.

The analysis was carried out by taking October 2020 as a reference and using a standardized federal analysis model; the results were later validated by an independent external auditing company.

The calculations are based on total standardized full-time earnings for 882 employees, made up of 346 women (39.2%) and 536 men (60.8%). On average, women earn CHF 6,981; men CHF 8,334; a difference of 16.2 percent that can almost entirely be explained by individual qualification and job characteristics. Taking these factors into account, the actual wage difference is reduced to 1.7% which, from a statistical point of view, is not significantly off from zero. Therefore, as the report concludes, according to the standardised analysis model there is no inexplicable wage difference in the strict sense to a statistically valid extent. The analysis conducted covers academic and administrative staff as a whole and does not provide any indication of individual salary discrimination or regarding certain groups.