Library directors: gender and salary
Mary Jo Lynch, Director, ALA Office for Research and Statistics
The ALA survey has always asked for the salary of the director. In 1999, we also asked the respondents to indicate the gender of the director. Results are summarized on Tables 1 and 2 below.
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Table 1: Gender of Library Directors
|
Male % |
Female % |
Total % |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Academic |
43 |
57 |
100 |
|
Public |
35 |
65 |
100 |
|
Combined |
39 |
61 |
100 |
Table 2: Average Salary of Library Directors
|
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic |
$62,961 |
$58,202 |
$60,232 |
| Public |
$75,383 |
$64,549 |
$68,299 |
| Combined |
$68,586 |
$61,614 |
$64,304 |
The gender distribution for directors shown on Table 3 is different from the gender distribution for all MLS staff in the same types of libraries, as revealed by results of a "supplementary question" on race/ethnicity and gender in the 1998 salary survey. Those results are included below. Regarding gender, (Table 3) they show the following pattern:
Table 3: Gender by Library Type
|
Academic |
Public |
|
|---|---|---|
| Female |
67.99 |
78.91 |
| Male |
32.01 |
21.09 |
| Total |
100.00 |
100.00 |
The conclusions from this data are not a surprise. Though most library directors are women, the percentage of directors who are men exceeds the percentage of librarians who are men. Also, men's salaries tend to be higher than women's, even for the same position.
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