The Effects of Perceived Pay Inequality on Workplace Outcomes: A Qualitative Study

Perceived pay inequality is regarded as an essential component of employment relationships in the modern world. Due to the importance of pay productivity of employees and their motivation, it is considered as a critical issue in the working area. In other words, it is suggested that perceived pay inequality leads to undesirable detrimental behaviors and attitudes, such as coming in late, leaving early, excessive absenteeism, counterproductive, and a low level of commitment and motivation. Therefore, the aim of the research is to reveal the effects of pay inequality on workplace outcomes and to present the effects of pay inequality perceived by academics at a public university as an exemplary framework. Accordingly, a qualitative study was conducted by performing a semi-structured interview with 16 academics. The data obtained from the interviews were coded and categorized using MAXQDA, a qualitative data analysis program. The analysis generated 22 sub-categories of the consequences of perceived pay inequality. © 2025 Alessandra Lazazzara and V. Lale Tüzüner.