Title: Six Rules Women Must Follow to Earn as Much as Men, Report Claims
Getting one more degree than men is among the six strategies that can help women narrow the gender pay gap, according to a new report by Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
In lieu of any major social or legal changes, women have six strategies that can help narrow the gender pay gap in America, according to a new study by Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW).
The strategies include that women must earn one more degree than men, pick a major that pays well, get a graduate degree if they major in liberal arts, negotiate their first paycheck well, avoid postsecondary vocational certificates with limited labor market value for women, and consider an industry-based certification if they aren’t pursuing a bachelor’s degree.
And despite the fact that 3 million more women than men now attend college, graduate in greater numbers and increasingly pursue high-paying majors in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and business, on average they still make only 81 cents for every dollar earned by men, the study shows.
Discrimination in Pay
“Women’s earnings still lag their exceptional educational progress,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, lead author of the report and CEW director. “At the heart of the gender wage gap is discrimination in pay for the same sets of qualifications and experience.”
“The standard apology for the wage gap has been that women have less tenure in their jobs due to child care responsibilities,” said Nicole Smith, co-author of the report and chief economist at the Georgetown Center. “However, close to 48 percent of women of childbearing age do not have children, and this does not seem to affect their earnings potential in a positive way.”
Even when comparing men and women with equal education and the same college majors working in the same occupation, women still earn only 92 cents for every dollar earned by men, states the report, called “Women Can’t Win: Despite Making Educational Gains and Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still Earn Less than Men.”
STEM, Business Majors
Only 33 percent of women major in finance, one of the more lucrative majors in business. Even when women choose high-paying majors, they tend to select the least lucrative sub-majors.
For example, in STEM, women concentrate in biological and life sciences (54 percent women), one of the lowest paying majors, as opposed to engineering (17 percent women).
A Georgetown study last year by McCourt School of Public Policy professor Adriana D. Kugler and McDonough School of Business professor Catherine H. Tinsley found that the triple threat of low grades, gender composition of a major and gender stereotypes are what compel undergraduate women to switch from a STEM major to another field.
“This study gets us a little closer to understanding the dynamic complex signals that lead to decisions about a major field of study, by showing that young women will stay in STEM majors if they aren’t deterred by a triple signal of lack of fit,” Kugler said last year. “Understanding why women and men graduate with different majors is critical for understanding their future occupational opportunities and, ultimately, the gender wage gap.”