Feminist activists like the National Organization of Woman and others as well as celebrities and politicians spreading like them consistently talk about the wage gap between men and women. They claim that for every dollar a man earns a woman get 77 cents.
The problem is that this conclusion is based on dividing the median earnings of all women working full-time by the median earnings of all men working full-time. It doesn’t consider occupation, position, education or hours worked per week.
A study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) shows that the actual wage gap shrinks to only 6.6 cents when you factor in different choices men and women make. The small wage gap that does exist has nothing to do with paying women less, let alone with sexism. Rather, it has to do with differences in individual career choices that men and women make.
The U.S. Department of Labor released a paper that examined more than 50 peer-reviewed studies and concluded that the 23 percent wage gap “may be almost entirely the result of individual choices being made by both male and female workers.”
So, what are these preferences? Georgetown University produced a list of the best paying college majors and the percent of men and women majoring in those fields.
Number 1 best-paying major: Petroleum Engineering: 87% male
Number 2: Pharmaceutical Sciences: 48% male
3: Mathematics and Computer Science: 67% male
4: Aerospace Engineering: 88% male
5. Chemical engineering: 62% male
Now look at the five worst paying college majors
Number 1: Counseling and Psychology: 74% female
Number 2: Early Childhood Education: 97% female
3: Theology and Religious Vocations: 66% male
4: Human Services and Community Organization: 81% female
5. Social Work: 88% female
Note that women over represent men in only on top-paying majors, and by narrow margin in the area of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In the five worst majors, it’s the women who lead in all but one category, Theology and Religious vocations. Even within the same profession, men and women make different career choices that impact how much money they make.
The Department of Labor paper concluded that when these differences are accounted for across all professions, the wage gap is somewhere between 4.8 and 7 percent—almost identical to the 6.6 percentage gap reported by the AAUW.
Why is there a wage gap at all? No one knows, as both the AAUW and the Labor Department concede. There are multiple variables that decide wages. No single study can cover them all. Few wage gap studies control for variables such as dangerous work environment where men are vastly overrepresented, for example, on oil rigs. And here’s another varying: men are more willing and able to work long hours without advance notice.
With more realistic categories and definitions, the wage gap that remains is as thin as the sharp end of a steak knife.
Here’s a thought question: Wages are one of a companies’ highest expenses. If women earn only 77cents compared to a dollar for men, why would a business hire men at all? Women’s wages would be far less expensive.
This blog is based on a video by Christina Hoff Summers of the American Enterprise Institute.
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Frank
Frank Victoria is an award-winning author and screenwriter. He’s been an Amazon bestseller with his recent book,The Founders’ Plot, a political thriller for our times. He donates proceeds of his books to Tunnels to Towers and Fisher House, helping military veterans and first responders. His novella,The Ultimate Bet is available on his website and Amazon. Check out his new website:Frank M. Victoria
©2024 Frank Victoria
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