The Gender Pay Gap

Women have made remarkable strides in education during the past three decades, but these gains have yet to translate into full equity in pay — even for college-educated women who work full time. A typical college-educated woman 25 years and older working full time earns $50,000 a year compared to $70,000 for college-educated male workers 25 years and older — a difference of $20,000!

There are many ways to talk about the gender pay gap. The data table displays earnings, the pay gap and rankings using the latest data (2008) from the American Community Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. census every year. For each state, the earnings ratio is displayed for

• the full-time, full year workforce ages 16 and older, and
• the college educated full-time, full year workforce ages 25 and older.

The analysis of the entire workforce includes all workers who usually worked 35 hours or more per week for 50 to 52 weeks in the past 12 months.

The analysis of the college educated workforce includes workers who worked 35 hours or more per week at least 48 weeks in the past year except for teachers who were included as year-round if they worked 40 weeks or more in the year. Median earnings for male and female full-time college-educated workers were calculated using data from the 2008 public use micro-sample (PUMS) of the American Community Survey (ACS). The PUMS was used so that the gender wage gap between male and female college educated workers could be examined separately from the rest of the work force.

Data table (PDF)

The Gender Pay Gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (PDF)
AAUW's most recent research report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics explores the reasons behind the continuing underrepresentation of women in certain scientific and engineering fields. While men typically earn more than women in STEM fields, as in other fields, the pay gap tends to be smaller in science and engineering. For example, women computer and information systems managers typically earn 87% of what their male colleagues earn compared to the overall gender pay gap of 77% for all occupations.

Pay gap data explained