The gender gap in earnings among science and engineering PhD graduates is 20 percent wider in academia than throughout the industry.

Companies that want to boldly go into new knowledge domains should start by looking inward at compensation design. A working paper co-authored by Smith School professor Waverly W. Ding shows that large pay gaps among research and development professionals at the same job level within an organization can stifle exploratory innovation — the kind that leads to U.S. patent filings.