Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | February 5, 2018 | wbjournal.com BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor Because they are more likely to hold higher- paying positions, male Central Mass. executives earn more than 2X female executives $1.3M vs. $573K PUBLIC COMPANIES $2,548,886 (75 people) $5,530,606 (4 people)* $2,699,860 Top-paid of each gender: Ernie Herrman, president & CEO, TJX Cos., Carol Meyrowitz, executive chairwoman, $18,536,866 TJX, $14,502,969 Michael Mahoney, CEO & chairman, Boston Scientific, Shira Goodman**, CEO, Staples, $3,773,894 $12,026,183 Stephen MacMillan, CEO & chairman, Hologic, Christine Komola, executive vice president & CFO, $10,794,592 Staples, $3,264,460 HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS $569,113 (23 people) $282,168 (12 people) $470,732 Top-paid of each gender: Eric Dickson, president & CEO, UMass Memorial Cheryl Lapriore, senior vice president & chief of staff, Health Care, $1,834,131 UMass Memorial Health Care, $510,536 Sergio Melgar, executive vice president & CFO, Cathy Rossi, vice president for managed care contracting, UMass Memorial Health Care, $983,854 UMass Memorial Health Care, $304,483 Dr. Leon Josephs, chief of specialties, Reliant Medical Jeanne Shirshac, vice president of health policy and Group, $944,239 public programs, UMass Memorial Health Care, $294,471 COLLEGES $291,057 (46 people) $230,516 (36 people) $264,478 Top-paid of each gender: Michael Collins, chancellor, UMass Medical School, Joyce Murphy, executivice vice chancellor, UMass $1,043,226 Medical School, $616,175 Terence Flotte, executive deputy chancellor & provost, Kristin Tichenor, senior vice president, WPI, $491,055 UMass Medical School, $848,752 Jeffrey Solomon, executive vice president & CFO, Susan West Engelkemeyer, president, Nichols Worcester Polytechnic Institute, $665,036 College, $474,911 SOCIAL SERVICE NONPROFITS $244,413 (21 people) $170,094 (10 people) $220,439 Top-paid of each gender: David Jordan, president, Seven Hills Foundation, $769,995 Catherine Welch***, executive director for Southborough, New England Center for Children, $280,972 Vincent Strully, president & CEO, New England Center Kathleen Jordan, executive vice president & CEO, Seven Hills for Children, $530,493 Foundation, $278,624 Joseph Tosches, executive vice president & COO, Kathryn Hunter, president & CEO, YMCA of Seven Hills Foundation, $374,759 Central Massachusetts, $239,048 The Central Mass. pay gap The pay gap in Central Mass. between the 233 male and female executives at the 50 organizations WBJ examined is mainly due to the large number of men holding most of the highest-paid positions for public companies. That factor of men holding the higher-paying positions remains true for lower-paying sectors as well, such as health care and social service nonprofits. Overall average Sector Average male executive pay Average female executive pay executive pay *Without Carol Meyrowitz, female female average is $2,539,818, and gender gap is 7% in favor of males. **Goodman stepped down as Staples CEO on Jan. 26. ***Welch made this salary while at the NECC Abu Dhabi location, which pays more. Notes: Pay is for most recently reported fiscal year, often 2017, and includes all reported compensation. Pay is not available for private businesses, including financial institutions, except Workers Credit Union, which is included in the overall gender breakdown. Holy Cross President Philip Boroughs is not included because his position does not include a salary. Staples is included under public companies because it was public until 2017. Sources: U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filings, U.S. Internal Revenue Service 990 forms through guidestar.org. T he highest-paying jobs among Central Massachusetts' most promi- nent organizations are over- whelming held by men, while the sectors with the greater gender mix are typically lower paying. As a result, the region's male executives make more than twice as much as the female executives. In its examination into the gender makeup of 75 Central Massachusetts organizations' leader- ship, WBJ determined the total com- pensation for 233 top executives at 50 public companies, social service non- profits, colleges and hospitals. WBJ didn't determine compensation at pri- vate companies. Of those 223 people, men made an average of $1,313,411 in the latest reporting year, compared to $572,709 for women. The findings don't definitively show male executives made more money because of their gen- der, but it is clear that men are more likely to land in positions paying the most, like public company CEOs. "We end up in a situation where there's a lot of different reasons to factor in, but the outcome is that women get paid much less," said Victoria Budson, the executive director of the Women and Public Policy pro- gram at the Harvard Kennedy School. The pay gap The 171 local male executives made a combined $225 million in the latest reporting year. The 62 local female executives made a combined $36 mil- lion, a number in which Carol Meyrowitz – executive chairwoman at Framingham retailer TJX Cos. – makes up a significant portion with her $14.5 million in total compensation. "To me, it's the picture of America," Evelyn Murphy, the chair of the WAGE Project, a Massachusetts equal-pay advocacy group, said of the Central Massachusetts figures. "It's pretty much the same story throughout the country and throughout the sectors." The major difference in overall Central Massachusetts executive pay between men and women is created by the fields in which women have a larg- er percentage of leadership roles. Women are more likely to work in executive roles in colleges, where aver- age pay among those studied by the WBJ was $264,478 for men and women combined. Among hospitals and health providers, the average pay for men and women combined was $470,732, and for social service nonprofits, the aver- age was $220,439. By comparison, top executives at public companies in Central Mass. made an average of $2,699,860, a num- ber influenced by high-earning execu- tives at companies like TJX Cos., Waters Corp. and Boston Scientific. Only six women are top executives at such public companies in Central Massachusetts, and pay could be deter- mined for only four of them. Even in industries where women are relatively evenly represented in number, a significant pay gap persists, according to WBJ's study of the 50 local firms. At Central Mass. hospitals and health providers, the gender pay gap is 50 per- cent – an average of $569,113 for men compared to $282,168 for women. Among social service nonprofits, the pay gap is 30 percent; men make $244,413, and women earn $170,094. Male college executives make an average of $291,057, a number that doesn't include College of the Holy Cross President Philip Boroughs, who does not take a salary. Their female counterparts made $230,516, creating a gap of 21 percent. The Boardroom Gap FIRST IN A 3-PART SERIES

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