Study: Females earn 80 percent of what men earn one year after graduating from college; falls to 69 percent 10 years later.
April 23 2007: 9:11 AM EDT


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A dramatic pay gap emerges between women and men in America the year after they graduate from college and widens over the ensuing decade, according to research released on Monday.

One year out of college, women working full time earn 80 percent of what men earn, according to the study by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, based in Washington D.C.

Ten years later, women earn 69 percent as much as men earn, it said.

Even as the study accounted for such factors as the number of hours worked, occupations or parenthood, the gap persisted, researchers said.

"If a woman and a man make the same choices, will they receive the same pay?" the study asked. "The answer is no.

"These unexplained gaps are evidence of discrimination, which remains a serious problem for women in the work force."

Specifically, about one-quarter of the pay gap is attributable to gender - 5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent 10 years after graduation, it said.

One year out of college, men and women should arguably be the least likely to show a gender pay gap, the study said, since neither tend to be parents yet and they enter the work force without significant experience.

"It surprised me that it was already apparent one year out of college, and that it widens over the first 10 years," Catherine Hill, AAUW director of research, told Reuters.

The choice of fields of concentration in college was a significant factor found to make a difference in pay, the study found.

Female students tended to study areas with lower pay, such as education, health and psychology, while male students dominated higher-paying fields such as engineering, mathematics and physical sciences, it said.

Even so, one year after graduation, a pay gap turned up between women and men who studied the same fields.

In education, women earn 95 percent as much as their male colleagues earn, while in math, women earn 76 percent as much as men earn, the study showed.

While in college, the study showed, women outperformed men academically, and their grade point averages were higher in every college major.

Parenthood affected men and women in vividly different ways. The study showed mothers more likely than fathers, or other women, to work part time or take leaves.

Among women who graduated from college in 1992-93, more than one-fifth of mothers were out of the work force a decade later, and another 17 percent were working part time, it said.

In the same class, less than 2 percent of fathers were out of the work force in 2003, and less than 2 percent were working part time, it said.

The study, entitled "Behind the Pay Gap," used data from the U.S. Department of Education. It analyzed some 9,000 college graduates from 1992-93 and more than 10,000 from 1999-2000.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/23/news/ec ... tm?cnn=yes

There you have it.

O RLY?

Any job that I've applied for (granted, not many at my age) there's always been a set salary stated, if not right in the job announcement but at least during the interview process. From that base I get yearly cost-of-living increases. Would a woman applying for this same job not get the same deal?

Then again, my work experience has been with non-profits and a university, not exactly old-boys' corporate offices, so maybe that's the difference...

I work in publishing and it really does appear to be a gender neutral type of place. We have a good mix of male and female managers and our CEO is a woman.

However, my first publishing job was for a much smaller scientific journal publisher. The office was literally 80% female and the pay was painfully low. I don't know if women were more apt to take low paying jobs or if we all got paid poorly because we were women. I tend to think it's the former.

They had a lot of mom-friendly perks like flex time and good maternity leave. When it comes right down to it, women are still mostly responsible for the child care. I know there are exceptions.

how is this news?:|

I figured you'd be posting in this thread quickly.

How much money do you make?

Loralei: check
Mary: check
Joelle: ______

Someone told me that male nurses actually get paid more than female nurses (non-officially of course) because they are rare, hence more desireable.

Uhh...the males nurses I know perform extremely well. They're full of energy even on fucked up shifts and are always in a good mood. I suppose as long as you fulfill your duties, it shouldn't matter. Your friend's reasoning is flawed/made up.

I'm sure they are energetic and perform well?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/146098.stm

it's british so I don't know if it translates to the US

I think your income is directly related to how you view yourself. What do you feel you're worth? How confident are you? For better or worse men in general seem to have more confidence and a greater feeling of self-worth.

yeah yeah yeah it's true a lot of the time

Same field, but is it the same position with the same degree? Does this account for women who get married and decide not to work? All it says is "studied the same fields". That's not very much information.

I wonder if self-esteem plays a factor. Women's self-esteem seems to take a constant whallop, while men tend to grow more egotistical every day.

The only experience I have with this is the job searching in my household or among friends. I've seen a lot of women pass up applying for promotions because they felt the job was guaranteed to someone else or, even if they met the qualifications, that the job needed someone more qualified.

I see a job I want, I fuckin' go get it. Even if I have to stretch logic to say I'm qualified, I'm going to make an argument for it. I beat my boss for a job once, there's no way your head shrinks after that.

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One case I could never figure out is this: I had a woman working for me a few years back, and she was smart and educated, but would NEVER apply for any job above front-line worker. I used to throw applications at her and beg her to apply for opportunities, but she never would. Part of it might have been that she was a mother, but she wouldn't even go for jobs with flex hours.

I talked to someone else that still sees her, and she's still working a frontline position and passing up opportunities to lead. I can't figure out why.

All that matters is whether women are being paid the same for the same jobs as men. If that isn't happening there's a serious problem.

If the problem is that women aren't being accepted for the same jobs as men, then there are dozens of factors (some legitimate, some not) that must be considered, and these bullshit "women make 80% as much as men" figures only serve to obfuscate.