Exposing the Gap: It’s 2023, and Structural Pay Inequality at the University of Galway Has Never Been Worse

While the university, f.k.a. NUI Galway (NUIG) and University College Galway (UCG), <a href="https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/book-tells-story-of-how-lecturer-won-gender-discrimination-case-against-galway-university-1541215.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">is no stranger to cases of gender discrimination</a>, what makes the current situation so grave is the sheer lack of value and respect of the staff by the university’s higher management. This time around, the pay inequity <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nuigalway/comments/172khj0/lawsuit_re_housing_and_discrimination_against/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">goes beyond gender bias in individual promotions </a>— it spans every permanent lecturer contract at the university. <h2>Act One: The Amalgamation (Spring 2023)</h2> Earlier this year, in line with other Irish universities, the University of Galway decided to <a href="https://d1gi.medium.com/below-the-bar-highlighting-inequities-in-irish-academic-pay-6d7b7d69609b" rel="noopener">merge its dual lecturer pay scales — ‘Above the Bar’ and ‘Below the Bar’ </a>— into a unified ‘<a href="https://www.universityofgalway.ie/payroll/payrollinformation/payscales/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">amalgamated</a>’ scale. In the process, lecturer’s starting pay (compared to the lower salary tier) increased from ~€43000 to ~€60000, and the distinction of the ‘bar’ was eliminated. <a href="https://d1gi.medium.com/exposing-the-gap-its-2023-and-structural-pay-inequality-at-the-university-of-galway-has-never-d4127498a42b">Visit Now</a>