Why Women Earn Less

What’s Really Behind Why Women Earn Less

Than Men?

Once it was because they weren’t as well educated. What’s holding them

back now?

Though headway has been made in bringing women’s wages more in line

with men’s in the past several decades, that convergence seems to have

stalled in more recent years. To help determine why, Francine D. Blau and

Lawrence M. Kahn, the authors of a new study from the National Bureau of

Economic Research parse data on wages and occupations from 1980 to 2010.

They find that as more women attended and graduated college and headed

into the working world, education and professional experience levels

stopped playing a significant role in the the difference between men and

women’s wages. Whatever remains of the discrepancy can’t be explained by

women not having basic skills and credentials. So what does explain it?

The largest factor in the persistent wage gap is the dearth of women in

specific jobs and industries, the researchers found. That means that

narrowing the wage gap further requires making high-paying,

male-dominated industries like STEM fields and tech companies more

enticing and welcoming to women. And even before that, encouraging

women and girls to take advantage of opportunities to explore and learn

about fields like coding and science that remain male-dominated at both the

professional and college level. This could help bring up overall wage

averages, though it wouldn’t wholly address the gaps that remain between

men and women’s salaries even within high-paying industries.

The study also points to … wait for it … culture, which continues to favor men’s participation in the workforce and women’s participation on the home

front. “Current research continues to find evidence of a motherhood penalty

for women and of a marriage premium for men,” the report finds. “The

greater tendency of men to determine the geographic location of the family

continues to be a factor even among highly educated couples.” (The

researchers assign minimal importance to theories suggesting that

psychological factors such as the notion that men are bigger risk takers, or

that women are more averse to tense negotiations have all that much to do

with the skill gap.)

“Culture” is kind of a squishy concept. How, precisely, does culture push

women’s wages down (or men’s wages up)? They find that one of the more

significant contributing factor to pay disparity is due to the fact that women

are more likely to spend time away from the workforce and are more likely

to work truncated schedules as they try to balance both professional and

personal priorities, such as caring for children or parents. Progress in pay

parity has been slower among women in highly skilled professions than

those in professions that don’t require a college or graduate degree. The

paper notes that this may be because women in high-paying, demanding

jobs, like doctors or lawyers, are more harshly penalized for time spent

away from the office, and clients. Specifically the penalties for time out of

the office are high among those with MBAs and JDs.

But it’s also true that these women likely have the option to take more time

in the first place. Women with more elite, high-paying jobs typically have

better options either via benefits or savings, or family assistance, that can

allow them to take time away from the workforce, even if it results in a

reduction of overall income.

The researchers note that discrimination, too, can play a role. When it comes to hiring and promotions, concerns that women will (or should) spend more

time away from the office, or will somehow underperform can create a labor

market where it’s difficult for women to achieve to the most advanced and

highly paid positions.