The gender pay gap may not be as wide as it seems at first glance, new research shows.
Glassdoor’s latest report — “Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap: Evidence From Glassdoor Salary Data” — found that men earn 24.1 percent higher base pay than women on average in the U.S.
In other words, women earn about 76 cents for every dollar men earn.
But when Glassdoor chief economist Andrew Chamberlain examined the data differently, adding statistical controls, he found that the gender pay gap narrows to 5.4 percent.
Those statistical controls are designed to make for more of an apples-to-apples comparison between workers by taking into consideration factors such as personal characteristics, job title, company and industry.
Chamberlain explains:
“The single biggest cause of the gender pay gap is occupation and industry sorting of men and women into jobs that pay differently throughout the economy. … Workplace fairness and anti-discrimination remain important issues. But the data show that while overt forms of discrimination may be a partial cause of the gender pay gap, they are not likely the main [cause].”
Glassdoor reports that, to date, more than 1,700 employers have pledged to pay women and men equally for equal work and experience.
The website has also identified the top 10 jobs in which women earn less, about the same as and more pay than men.
The top jobs in which women earn about the same as men are:
- Event coordinator
- Logistics manager
- Food services professional
- Internal medicine resident
- Technical coordinator
- Supply chain specialist
- Academic counselor
- Clinical dietician
- Field services professional
- Hardware engineer
The top jobs in which women earn more than men are:
- Social worker
- Merchandiser
- Research assistant
- Purchasing specialist
- Physician adviser
- Communications associate
- Social media professional
- Health educator
- Procurement professional
- Business coordinator
The top jobs in which women earn less than men are:
- Computer programmer
- Chef
- Dentist
- “C-suite” business executives (e.g., chief executives, chief financial officers)
- Psychologist
- Pharmacist
- CAD designer
- Physician
- Optician
- Pilot
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