I do not consider myself a feminist. I do not get up in arms when someone makes a sandwich joke, and I don't subscribe to the idea that women should strive to be superior to men. That is not to say that I think women should be oppressed, subjugated, abused or otherwise maltreated.

However, I do think that in this day and age, we have lost sight of what feminism is really about. Our position in society relative to our male counterparts has become murky-sexism still exists, but it is much less overt-and I feel that the stance of most feminists has not been adjusted to match the gains we have made.

But, on the other hand, there is a great deal of real gender inequality that still exists, and when I do encounter such inequality, I do not take it lightly.

This is why I was incensed to read about the sizable gender pay gap that still persists in academia. According to an April 5 Inside Higher Ed article, Laura Meyers, a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington, has found that women earn an average of 6.9 percent less than men who are on similar career tracks in academia.

Reading about such blatant gender inequality in academia-a sphere that is currently so relevant to my life-makes me question my rejection of feminism.

According to the article, Meyers' study accounted for other factors that might contribute to this pay gap, such as the fact that women are more likely to work at teaching universities, which tend to pay less than research universities, yet she still found that women were consistently paid less than their male counterparts.

If this is the case, then what could possibly account for this gender pay gap other than a very pernicious, latent sexism?

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this clear case of gender inequality is the fact that this Inside Higher Ed article is the first I am even hearing of it. I know that women tend to be paid less than men in most fields, but I suppose I just took it for granted that academia, with all its liberal ethics, would be different or that the gender wage gap was shrinking.

It never occurred to me that some of my own professors might be suffering from this inequality or that some of Brandeis' administrators might be perpetrating it.

Unfortunately, by taking it for granted that women are treated as equals in the workplace, I have unintentionally accepted the status quo of gender inequality. As long as we are unaware that women in academia don't receive equal pay, or we refuse to believe that this might be the case, or we accept it as "just the way it is," the situation will never change.

I commend Inside Higher Ed for publishing an article on the matter and citing hard evidence to prove it, but I am disappointed that there is not a plethora of other articles like it.

If we can appreciate the severity of the fact that women in academia-and this includes university staff, not just faculty-are paid less because of their gender, we should be speaking out against this injustice with equal severity.

Unfortunately, there is little to no condemnation of this kind of discrimination within academia, and although it is latent sexism that has caused the gender wage gap in the first place, perhaps our silence on the matter can be attributed to sexism as well.

That we are not shocked and outraged by this blatant inequality, and that we remain silent and allow women's work to be devalued, is just as perniciously sexist as not paying women the same amount as men for the same work.

Though I still do not consider myself a feminist, I can appreciate that the gender wage gap is not acceptable. The work of our female faculty and staff is just as valuable as the males; and so women should be receiving equal compensation.