https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Smart Cities & Technology


Article

Closing the gap on salary equity in public procurement

Closing the gap on salary equity in public procurement

Darin Matthews tells why we need to close the pay equity gap in public procurement.
  • Written by mikekeat
  • 30th May 2017

The procurement and supply chain profession has come a long way. We have advanced into senior leadership positions, lead sustainable procurement initiatives for our organizations, and are generally viewed as value-adding professionals. However, I still believe there is an area we can do better.

Female professionals, on the average, make less than their male counterparts for doing the exact same job. There, I said it.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at what the data tells us.

Here’s a big picture look at salary inequity, not just in procurement. In 1960 women earned about 60 percent of what men made. Fast-forward to 2015 and this number had gone up to 80 percent. Again, women making significantly less than their male counterparts. For women of color, the gap is even wider.

Sure, each year progress is being made to narrow this gap, but based on the rate of increase in the last 55 years, it will be 2059 until pay equity is reached.
The gap also varies by geography. In New York, women’s salaries are at 89 percent, which is the highest in the US. However, in Wyoming this number is only 64 percent.

Each year the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) conducts a comprehensive salary survey for procurement and supply chain professionals. While ISM looks at all sectors (by the way, government administration is usually lowest), I believe their findings are relevant to public procurement. In 2015 the gap between men and women in supply chain decreased. Females earned 11 percent less than males, which was a significant increase from 2013 (29 percent less). Still, there is room for improvement.

Within the public sector ranks, a study by NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement (NIGP) reports that women make 13 percent less than men while serving in the same role. At the director level the discrepancy is even higher: 25 percent. Ironically, the membership of NIGP within the US and Canada is over 50 percent female.

Pay is also often a topic of discussion in my classrooms. Last year one of my undergraduate students said she thought this was, in part, due to women not taking a tougher stance during salary discussions. In her words, “men are viewed as tough when they do this, but we are labeled as difficult.”

So what can we do to be part of the solution? Should we only consider hiring women for our top procurement positions? Hardly. There are countless female professionals that I’ve worked with in procurement that are experienced, educated, and excellent at what they do. They have earned their role as chief procurement officer (CPO) or senior buyer; it was not “given” to them. If decision-makers in our organizations truly consider a broad pool of candidates, then I am confident that many qualified women will be in the mix.

Let’s take a look at our own departments. How equitable are the salaries in the offices we work in each day? Are there things we can do as procurement leaders to make sure equity exists? Ensuring that our employees are paid salaries that are commensurate with their qualifications, not their gender, is a good start.

In short, let’s do what we can to close this gap.

DARIN MATTHEWS, FNIGP, CPPO, CPSM, is the director of procurement for the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has extensive management experience, speaks throughout the world on procurement issues, and has published several books and articles on supply chain management. Contact Matthews at [email protected]

_____________

To get connected and stay up-to-date with similar content from American City & County:
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter
Watch us on Youtube

Tags: Administration Economy Procurement Smart Cities & Technology Article

Most Recent


  • sustainability
    Sustainability initiatives take center stage in Florida county
    Palm Beach County, Fla. (2022 estimated population: 1,538,450), is the second largest county in Florida by land area and the third largest by population. County leaders have been implementing resiliency and sustainability initiatives for more than a decade, says Melissa McKinlay, commissioner of Palm Beach County District 6. “However, a few years ago, the Board […]
  • 10 cities ideal for hybrid or full-time telecommuters seeking an outdoor lifestyle
    When the pandemic was first realized, cities emptied out, highways were suddenly devoid of cars and storefronts shuttered overnight. The assumption in many communities was that it would last for a few months and then everything would return to normal—those who’d left would return to their office jobs and apartments.  But these two years later, […]
  • Closing the gap on salary equity in public procurement
    Take American City & County's budgeting survey
    With the recently passed infrastructure-related legislation by the federal government, local administrators across the United States are poised to make historic investments into their communities.  Given the generational precedence of this action, we’re curious about the state of local budgets—what expense lines are increasing the fastest year-over-year? In what area has federal funding been the […]
  • Atlanta, Ga.
    Six cities and counties will take stock of underutilized assets in Rethinking Revenue incubator
    The Government Finance Officers Association in collaboration with various organizations including Urban3 and the Sorenson Impact Center has been spearheading a forward-looking approach to public financing, the Rethinking Revenue Project, an investigation of the foundational structure of government revenue and underutilized assets, for about a year now. A new initiative launched by the collaboration is […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • North Texas alliance partners with Marketplace.city on smart government solutions
  • Harris County deploys next-generation security in 150 public buildings
  • Prioritizing rapid restore leads to stronger ransomware attack recovery
  • Today’s infrastructure needs greater than roads and bridges - It’s time to face our digital connectiveness

White papers


How to Assemble a Rockstar Website Redesign Steering Committee

7th June 2022

Hand Hygiene: Compliance Matters

23rd May 2022

What it Takes to Build a Winning Esports Program

23rd May 2022
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Supreme Court ruling on EPA greenhouse gas regulation will impact cities dlvr.it/STBwkw

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

Sustainability initiatives take center stage in Florida county dlvr.it/STBvwN

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

10 best cities for July Fourth celebrations dlvr.it/STBfHt

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

The Missing Link in Cloud Security dlvr.it/STBXNL

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

Improving Productivity with Employee Engagement | Aug. 4, 2022 at 2 PM ET dlvr.it/STBCD5

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

We want to hear from you! Please take this brief survey and let us know how your organization is managing your budg… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

30th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Report: Reforming emergency dispatch won’t be easy, but it’s necessary dlvr.it/ST7kQ5

30th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Three U.S. cities to adopt Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge-winning project to combat climate change dlvr.it/ST4bjk

29th June 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X