In the last 30 years, the wage gap between men and women has narrowed considerably. In 1979, the year the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking salary information by gender,
women earned just 62 percent of what men did. Earlier this year,
the BLS reported that, in the fourth quarter of 2011, that figure had risen nearly 20 percent. Women now earn an average of 81.6 cents for every dollar men do.
But in a time when women make up close to half of the workforce and are graduating college at a higher rate than men, why is there still a nearly 20 percent difference in earnings?
There are a number of reasons why the pay gap persists – women are more likely to work part time and
less likely to negotiate their salaries, for example.
But perhaps the biggest factor? Women make up a smaller percentage of the workforce in high-paying careers like engineering, computer science and finance than men.
According to the BLS, for example, "In 2008, only 9 percent of female professionals were employed in the high-paying computer and engineering fields, compared with 45 percent of male professionals." Additional research from Bloomberg BusinessWeek found that, among business school graduates, men were more likely to pursue high-paying fields like finance and consulting, while women were more likely to choose lower-paying careers in human resources and marketing.
"Women often pursue careers like social work, publishing, non-profit and education where the pay is historically lower than in fields like finance and engineering," says Roy Cohen, author of "The Wall Street Professional's Survival Guide." "Even in medicine, more men will become surgeons whereas female physicians tend to pursue dermatology or internal medicine, which also tend to offer lower compensation."
That's not a bad thing –
research has shown that women are more likely to choose work they find interesting and fulfilling over work that is lucrative. But, from a purely financial standpoint, we wondered what careers would narrow the wage gap if more women pursued them. According to the
BLS, these 25 jobs are the ones that give women the most earning potential.
1. Pharmacists
Median weekly earnings: $1,898*
2. Lawyers
Median weekly earnings: $1,631
3. Computer and information systems managers
Median weekly earnings: $1,543
4. Physicians and surgeons
Median weekly earnings: $1,527
5. Chief executives
Median weekly earnings: $1,464
6. Nurse practitioners
Median weekly earnings: $1,432
7. Software developers
Median weekly earnings: $1,388
8. Operations research analysts
Median weekly earnings: $1,326
9. Human resources managers
Median weekly earnings: $1,273
10. Psychologists
Median weekly earnings: $1,244
11. Computer programmers
Median weekly earnings: $1,238
12. Physical therapists
Median weekly earnings: $1,216
13. Occupational therapists
Median weekly earnings: $1,193
14. Management analysts
Median weekly earnings: $1,174
15. Physical scientists
Median weekly earnings: $1,167
16. Medical and health services managers
Median weekly earnings: $1,166
17. Computer systems analysts
Median weekly earnings: $1,144
18. Architecture and engineering
Median weekly earnings: $1,140
19. Marketing and sales managers
Median weekly earnings: $1,127
20. Medical scientists
Median weekly earnings: $1,127
21. Postsecondary teachers and professors
Median weekly earnings: $1,093
22. Speech-language pathologists
Median weekly earnings: $1,076
23. Education administrators
Median weekly earnings: $1,061
24. Managers, all other
Median weekly earnings: $1,047
25. Registered nurses
Median weekly earnings: $1,034
*Based on BLS data from 2011
