What salary gaps exist in international education?

Learn from our research and test your assumptions—how do gender and ethnicity impact the salary of school heads? Explore the data and think about fostering   positive changes in international education.

For many years, we’ve been gathering and analysing head of school salary data from our worldwide membership community of international schools. We look for trends and exclusive insights that we can share with members and the wider community to raise awareness about salary inequities.

Hear from Jane Larsson, CIS Executive Director, as she summarises the findings from our research.

 

Creating fair and equitable hiring practices is a shared responsibility

We are all responsible for raising awareness throughout the international education community about salary and benefits practices and trends so school leaders can make decisions to reduce the existing pay gaps related to gender, demographic, and contract categories.

The data we collected tells a story—one we hope will change.
 

Key findings for 2023

In 2023, we gathered survey responses from 373 heads of schools in 106 countries, including heads of schools that are members of CIS, the Association of American International Schools in the Americas (AMISA), British Schools in the Middle East (BSME), the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), and the East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS).

We explored:

1. Whether the salary and benefits fairness perceptions of women, Non-White, and locally hired heads differed from those of men, White, and internationally hired heads.
2. The proportion of heads who have negotiated their salaries either before accepting a job offer or while in their current roles.
3. Who do heads reach out to for advice on career progression?

Overall: There is a positive correlation between the average net salary and higher education levels. There is a significant positive correlation between the average net salary and the number of years in leadership positions.  There is a significant positive correlation between the average net salary and school enrolment numbers.
Gender: The gender salary gap persists. Men are paid, on average, 25,437 USD more than women. Women heads are paid less than men, and the difference in salary increases with more years of experience.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity salary gap persists. White leaders are paid, on average, 45,387 USD more than Non-White leaders.  White leaders earn more than their Non-White counterparts with similar leadership experience.  White leaders earn more than Non-White leaders of schools with similar enrolment numbers, with the gap increasing as the school size grows.
Contract Category: The contract category salary gap persists. On average, internally hired heads are paid 43,777 USD more than locally hired heads. Internationally hired heads earn more than their locally hired counterparts with similar leadership experience and all education levels.