Purdue University Fort Wayne was awarded the Silver Award by the Women’s Fund of Greater Fort Wayne for its treatment of female employees, one of only five employers to receive such an honor this year.
The Women’s Fund of Greater Fort Wayne has awarded Purdue University Fort Wayne as one of five employers to be honored with the Silver Award. The announcement was recently made in the Allen County Women in the Workplace Report. The Silver Award is the highest honor the Women’s Fund awards.
When making its decision, The Women’s Fund of Greater Fort Wayne looks at supportive benefits and policies, promotion practices, equitable hiring, women in leadership, and the compensation of women.
Purdue University Fort Wayne met three of the four top criteria for an equitable workplace, was one of the top three highlighted for positive recruitment and retention of women, and was one of only four businesses to be recognized for supportive policies and benefits.
At the Silver Award luncheon, Purdue University Fort Wayne was represented by Kirk Toliver, associate director for payroll and compensation, and Melissa Helmsing, interim associate vice chancellor of Human Resources and the Office of Institutional Equity, according to an article from the school.
The Women’s Fund is an initiative of the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne. To accumulate its findings, the Women’s Fund created and distributed a survey to area employers. The survey is conducted every year, and this most recent survey represented 21,249 total employees.
According to the Allen County Women in the Workplace Report, the average pay gap between men and women is $12,460 in the state of Indiana, whereas in Allen County specifically, the gap between men and women is $15,590. The report also found that 75% of working age women are in the workforce in Allen County, which is higher than the state rate (74%), and the national rate (73%).
In Fort Wayne, women make up 50.7% of the total population, but only 46.8% of full time employees, however, women also make up 75.8% of part-time employees. The report found that women working at the surveyed companies were underrepresented in both top salaries and leadership roles with women making most of the bottom tenth of salaries at 77.8%.
All of the results of the survey can be found within the full report here.
More information about Purdue University Fort Wayne can be found on the school’s website.