News

Actions

11 jobs with the largest gender wage gap

Posted at 12:12 PM, Mar 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-29 15:12:13-04

Are women a fraction of the workers men are?  On average female workers get paid about $0.76 on the dollar compared to males, according a Glassdoor study.

And the salary gap isn't only in the U.S. Data examined by Glassdoor shows men earn more than women on average in a number of countries including the U.K., Australia, Germany and France.

But you can't cry discrimination for every gaping hole.

Much of the difference is attributed to the "sorting" of the two sexes. In other words, more women flock to certain lower-paying professions and away from others because of societal norms. Also, evidence showed women are more likely to make work-life choices that may decrease their earnings or earning power compared to men. 

Research shows women are more likely to take a lower paying job if it means flexibility to care for children or an ailing loved one.  

"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," wrote Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, author of the study.

The difference is reduced to $0.81 per dollar when comparing workers with similar age, education and years of experience. When you examine same job title, employer and location, it goes down to $0.95 per dollar.

To come up with the numbers, Glassdoor looked at 505,000 full-time salaries in the U.S. that were reported by workers.  

The jobs with the largest pay gap between men and women:

  • computer programmer -- 28.3 percent
  • chef -- 28.1 percent
  • dentist -- 28.1 percent.
  • C-suite occupations 27.7 percent (CEOs, CFOs, etc.)
  • psychologist 27.2 percent
  • pharmacist 21.8 percent
  • CAD ("computer aided design") designer 21.5 percent
  • physician 18.2 percent
  • optician 17.3 percent
  • pilot 16.0 percent
  • game artist 15.8 percent (design and development of video games)