Women increase in top administrative posts.

More women are assuming top administrative posts, from provost/chief academic officer to dean of arts and sciences, while median administrative salaries jumped 4% since last year, the highest in the last four years, and outpaced inflation at 3.2% for the 10th year in a row. The report is for sale at the Web site: www.cupahr.org

The annual salary survey by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) compares salaries for women and men in 272 positions at 1,329 schools of all four types. WIHE selected 100 of the most popular jobs among women.

This year's data reflect a big increase in women as senior administrators. Women are nearly one-fourth of presidents and one-third of chief academic officers and deans of arts and sciences; they are 11.5% of deans of engineering, doubled from 5.8% in 2002-2003.

And women's salaries are increasing. Last year the female deans of engineering reportedly earned a median salary of $136,332, $39,568 less than men's at $175,900. This year the 22 female deans of engineering reported a median salary of $202,750, compared with $187,410 for the 186 male deans of engineering, a $15,340 advantage.

"Women are definitely making their presence known in senior leadership positions," noted Andy Brantley, CUPA-HR 's CEO. "Women are really starting to break through the higher education 'glass ceiling. Much has been accomplished, but there is still much more work to be done in this area."

Women tend to earn more equitable salaries in information technology fields, where bias is less.

Egregious gender differences in salary remain: