Women Can’t Win: Despite Making Educational Gains and Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still Earn Less than Men explores the complex set of reasons that have kept the gender wage gap in place. Even when comparing men and women who have equal educational attainment and work in the same occupation, women still earn only 92 cents for every dollar earned by men.

1. Women Can’t Win:
Despite Making Educational Gains and
Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still
Earn Less than Men
By: Anthony P. Carnevale, Nicole Smith, and Artem Gulish
February 27, 2018

2. Overview
• Women are going to college and graduating in greater
numbers than men, yet the gender wage gap persists.
• Educational progress has helped narrow that gap.
• Even within the more lucrative majors and
occupations, women are concentrated in the lower-
paying subfields.
• When compared to many of its OECD peers, the US
has lower female labor force participation rates and a
wider wage gap.

3. The gender wage gap persists
• Women earn 81 cents on the dollar paid to men.
• Even when controlling for education, college
major, and occupation, women still earn only 92
cents for every dollar paid to men.

4. The gender wage gap varies by education

5. • Women’s educational accomplishments have helped
narrow the gender wage gap.
• Roughly 3 million more women in the US are enrolled
in postsecondary education than men.
• Women make up the majority of recipients of
associate’s degrees (61%), bachelor’s degrees (57%),
master’s degrees (60%), and doctoral degrees (52%).
Education gains yield
economic progress

6. Choice of low-paying majors
• Women continue to enter more lucrative fields.
• Today, 17 percent of engineering majors are women,
compared to 1 percent in 1970.
• Yet, even in high-paying majors, women
disproportionally choose the lowest paying sub-major.

7. Choice of low-paying majors (continued)

8. Concentration in low-paying occupations
• In high-paying occupational fields, women are more
concentrated in lower-paying occupations.
Share
of
women

9. US lags OECD countries in
closing the wage gap
• Women’s labor force participation rates are low in
the US compared to its OECD peers.
• Most OECD countries have smaller gender wage
gaps and laws that are more supportive of women
who have children or are taking care of elderly
relatives.

10. 6 Rules of the Game: Rule 1
• Women need one more degree than men to have the
same earnings.

11. Rule 2
• Major choice largely determine earnings.

12. Rule 3
• Liberal arts majors need a graduate degree to attain
middle class earnings.

13. Rule 4
• Starting pay impacts lifetime earnings potential.

14. Rule 5
• Postsecondary vocational certificates have limited labor
market value for women.

15. Rule 6
• Industry based certification have labor market value for
women.

16. Conclusion
• The enduring gender wage gap puts women at the mercy of a
different set of rules than men.
• Women’s educational attainment gains have narrowed the
gender wage gap, but have not eliminated it.
• The remaining difference in pay between men and women
after accounting for education and career choices is a clear sign
of persistent discrimination.
• Solving the gender wage gap will require more than just new
laws; it will also require cultural changes.

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See the full report at: cew.georgetown.edu/genderwagegap