Predicting staff salaries is a little more complicated, given that the bulk of the higher education IT workforce performs many jobs that vary considerably more than those of CIOs or managers. Yet, despite this complexity, we are able to significantly predict IT staff salaries with six basic factors: gender, generation, institution type, education level, IT sector, and experience in higher education prior to joining one's current institution. Figure 61 shows estimated average salaries for staff.

Consistent with the previous models, IT staff who work at doctoral institutions have significantly higher average salary levels compared with other types of institutions. And, like their managerial counterparts, staff at private doctorals earn the most, to the tune of $25,177 more than their peers at AA, BA, and private master's institutions. Public master's staff are on par with those at public doctorals, $6,366 above the salaries of those at AA, BA, and private MA institutions.

Additional advantages accrue to those in the older generations. Compared with Millennials, Gen Xers earn an additional $9,990. And the average Boomer is expected to earn another $6,015 on top of that. At the same time, IT staff see an additional $349 on average for each year of experience gained in higher education prior to joining their current institution.

Unfortunately, the salary gender gap is most pronounced among IT staff. In fact, staff is the only group that has a salary imbalance associated with gender and for which the difference is statistically significant even after adjusting for other factors. Our model predicts that male IT staff will earn an additional $7,023 on average above the average female IT staff salary after adjusting for other factors.

The plurality (41%) of IT staff surveyed reported that their highest degree is a master's. Earning a doctoral or other terminal degree is associated with a salary increase of $4,073 above those with a master's. A similar difference is seen between those with a bachelor's and those with a master's ($5,712), and again between those with a bachelor's and those without a four-year degree ($4,371). In other words, pursuing that next level in your educational path could be the ticket to a salary bump of $4,000–5,000, not to mention an increased opportunity to move into a managerial position.

As with the managerial model, the 11 IT sectors2 settle into 3 groups for predicting staff salaries (figure 7). Compared with a baseline of positions within academic computing/instructional technology; design, media, and web; and desktop services or client support, IT staff in data, analytics, and business intelligence; information security and services; IT operations and service delivery; research computing/cyberinfrastructure; and other circumstances earn an average of $14,655 more. And staff in administrative/enterprise IT, applications development or operations, and network and systems earn an additional $5,669.

This model accounts for 36% of the variability observed among IT staff salaries. Clearly there are other factors, some beyond our ability to measure, that affect the salary of an individual IT staff member. Figure 6 contains estimated average salaries for IT staff.

When it comes to higher education IT staff salaries, little can be done about the generational differences or the type of institution at which one works. For the former, generation likely reflects a combination of years of experience and a cumulative effect of annual salary increases that push the average salary upward as one ages. For the latter, it is not reasonable to expect institutions in the lower salary categories to be able to meet the salaries of those blessed with greater resources. However, one could seek employment at institution types that pay more, but such shifts are complicated for individuals and their families, especially if relocation is required to secure a new position. One of the most important things that higher education IT organizations can do is work to close the salary gap between men and women. Our results suggest that there continues to be a systematic pattern in which female staff members are paid significantly lower wages than their male counterparts, even after controlling for other salary predictors. IT organizations should consider auditing their compensation packages by gender to guarantee that equitable salaries are paid for equitable work.