MSc candidate Andrew D'Angelo will defend his thesis “Analyzing the Gender Wage-Gap in Ontario's Public Sector” on April 20, 2016, at 1:30pm in Reynolds 219.

Title

Analyzing the Gender Wage-Gap in Ontario's Public Sector

Abstract

The disparity in wages between men and women is a well-known fact. Leveraging the salary information provided by the Ontario Ministry of Finance could contribute for a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the gender wage disparity. The Ontario public salary data, also known as the `Sunshine List', contains the salary information of individuals working in the public sector that earn $100,000 or more. Unfortunately, the Sunshine List data is not in a form that allows for direct analysis. The information must first be collected, cleaned, and standardized due to formatting inconsistencies within the Sunshine List data. Furthermore, although these salaries are publicly available, a key attribute is missing from the public data, the gender variable. A novel hybrid model is proposed to predict the gender based on an individual's name, and the original database is augmented with the new gender variable. With the new database created, the wage-gap is analyzed and the results are presented and discussed. The findings of this research are being used by Ontario's provincial government to reassess and change current policies for pay equity.

Advisor: Dr. Gary Grewal

Examination Committee: Dr. Luiza Antonie, Dr. Deb Stacey, Dr. David Chiu (Chair)