ABSTRACT
Resumen Esta investigación tiene como objetivo capturar la segregación ocupacional y la discriminación salarial por género en la Universidad del Cauca, ubicada en el suroccidente colombiano, durante cuatro momentos en el tiempo (2005, 2010, 2015 y 2020). La metodología es cuantitativa e implementa en el primer caso el Índice de Karmel y MacLachlan (KM) y la descomposición de Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder (KOB) en el segundo. Se utiliza información de datos panel en la descomposición KOB, lo que permite evaluar la evolución de la segregación en el tiempo. Las variables incluyen el género, el salario, la edad, los años de experiencia, el nivel de formación, los cargos administrativos, la unidad académica, entre otros. La información fue suministrada por la Vicerrectoría académica de la Universidad de forma totalmente anonimizada. Los resultados muestran evidencia de segregación ocupacional y discriminación salarial por género; a pesar de que en los últimos años ambas brechas se están cerrando levemente, el problema permanece. La segregación ocupacional ocurre aún en ocupaciones beta tradicionalmente ocupadas por las mujeres pese a la baja percepción de discriminación laboral por parte de las profesoras universitarias. En cuanto a las ocupaciones alfa, estas mantienen la hegemonía masculina. Las características observables hacen que existan diferencias en la modificación salarial entre profesores y profesoras, pero estas cada vez se hacen menos fuertes por el aumento en el nivel de formación y la disminución en el número de hijos e hijas. Existen factores discriminatorios no observados que mantienen la discriminación salarial femenina en respuesta a factores culturales arraigados en el patriarcado y tradicionalismo de la región donde se encuentra la universidad.
Abstract This research aims to capture occupational segregation and wage discrimination by gender in the University of Cauca, located in southwestern Colombia, during four periods (2005, 2010, 2015 y 2020). There are few studies in this direction, and the existing ones do not address it in depth, at least in emerging countries. In this sense, it is the first time it has been done for Colombian higher education institutions. The methodology is quantitative and it implements the Karmel and MacLachlan Index (KM) in the first case and the Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder (KOB) decomposition in the second one. To deepen the analysis panel data information was used for the first time in the KOB decomposition for these issues, which allows evaluating the evolution of segregation over time. The variables analysed include gender, wage, age, years of experience, education level, administrative charges, and academic departments of origin, among others. The information used comes from the official data provided by the Administrative Office of the University of Cauca. This is characterized by being totally anonymous and by exclusively comprising full-time teachers, that is, those with an indefinite term contract. Temporal teachers and/or professors with a defined term contract are excluded, due to the volatility in the employment relationship, which would otherwise introduce noise into the analysis. In general, the information shows that alpha professions (better paid, with greater projection and public recognition) have been dominated in the last five years by professors; while beta professions (that is those with lower salaries, little projection and recognition) have been led by women. This preliminary result leads to consider that there is labor and/or wage segregation within this university. The estimates of the KM index showed, firstly, that all professions, both alpha and beta, have at least some segregation in the period analysed, since this is greater than zero. Second, segregation has been low and slightly decreasing over time for beta professions. In fact, it was 0.09 in 2005 and 0.072 in 2020. Third, for alpha professions, the index has been markedly increasing over time, which suggests that the proportion of female teachers who must change professions so that segregation from men was zero is increasing. Regarding wage discrimination, all the differences were negative, which shows that the average salaries of female teachers are lower than those of male teachers and therefore their difference is less than zero. Although the results are only statistically significant for the years 2011, 2014 and 2020, it can be highlighted that these differentials have been decreasing over time. In effect, it was -0.24 log-wage in 2005 and -0.051 log-wage in 2020. These results are partially in line with those obtained in the KM index. Occupational and salary segregation seems to have decreased slightly in recent years in this university, but it still exists. In the case of decomposition change, all the variations in the endowment are positive and significant but are characterized as decreasing, which indicates that changes in average wage differentials have been narrowing over time. The empirical evidence suggest that occupational segregation still occurs in beta professions traditionally occupied by women despite the low perception of job discrimination by university professors. As for alpha occupations, they maintain male hegemony. The observable characteristics mean that there are differences in the wage modification between male and female teachers, but this is becoming less strong due to the increase in the education level and the decrease in the number of children. There are unobserved discriminatory factors that maintain female wage discrimination in response to cultural factors rooted in the patriarchy and traditionalism of the region where the university is located.