Well Heeled
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| © SolStock/istockphoto |
It's common knowledge women
typically make less in the workforce — around 81 cents for every dollar
earned by male counterparts, according to Labor Department statistics.
But how accurate that number is and the reasons behind it are widely
discussed and debated. Some suggest that women often make less because
they are more likely to hold lower-paying jobs. Data from the National Women’s Law Center
states that women make up 47% of the workforce, but account for 69% of
employees in jobs that pay $10 an hour or less. Meanwhile, Glassdoor
found that nine out of the 10 highest-paying college majors (such as
engineering, physics, and computer science) are dominated by men,
while women are more prominent in six of the 10 lowest-paying majors
(including in liberal arts and social sciences). But even men and women
with the same majors often split into different job titles within
industries where men wind up in positions that pay more.
There's good news: Women often make higher wages than men if they are in male-dominated fields, especially when joining unions within those fields. As the gender pay gap persists, these jobs are few and far between and subject to a wide variety of variables, but they are out there.
Wholesale and Retail Buyers
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Gap in women's favor: Less than 1 cent more per dollar
Women in this profession, who work selecting and buying goods or services a company needs, are not going to make much more than their male coworkers, but with very few professions giving the edge to the ladies, this one makes the cut. Interestingly, the 2019 Glassdoor Progress on the Gender Pay Gap report notes that, as a whole, male professionals in the retail industry are paid quite a bit more than women.
Postal Service Clerk ...
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Those ladies behind the counter at your post office make, on average, 2 to 3 cents more than those dudes standing next to them, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Interestingly, however, the same is not true for mail carriers, where men are paid a whopping 18 cents more an hour than women. Not cool, USPS.
... And Lots of Other Clerks
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This is admittedly rather vague, and that's because, according to BLS, female clerks of all types — billing and posting clerks, reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks, office clerks, production, planning, and expediting clerks, and receptionists and information clerks make more than men. Reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks saw the biggest payoff — the ladies there make an average of 11 cents more an hour. The problem here is that none of these jobs are very high paying to begin with.
Editor
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Female wordsmiths are making a few cents more per dollar than their male counterparts, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that, in 2018, women editors made an average annual salary of $59,176 to the men in their same profession, who pull in $57,408.
Kinesiologist
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The study of body movement, a college major similar to exercise movement and one you might pursue if interested in becoming a personal trainer or physical therapist, is one of Glassdoor's lowest-paying majors, tied with criminal justice. Still, the wage gap here is in women's favor according to the website's 2017 economic study — women's $43,000 annual average salary to men's $41,000. Take that with a grain of salt, however, as BLS's 2918 statistics note that male physical therapists are paid more by a margin of 2 cents per dollar.
Chemical Engineering
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It's not surprising this STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field is lucrative. It's also one that typically attracts more men, although women who pursue it excel, making an average $63,770 a year in chemical engineering to men's $60,480, according to Glassdoor.
Paralegal and Legal Assistant
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The BLS notes that women's average weekly pay in this career, where workers perform a variety of tasks to support lawyers, including maintaining and organizing files, conducting legal research, and drafting documents, is $953 versus men's $917.
Advertising Sales Agent
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The gap among advertising majors is in women's favor by an average $54,756 to $49,400. Women also hold 60% of professional positions in advertising, says Avi Dan, a contributor to Forbes, but black employees are poorly represented and still make only 80 cents for every dollar earned by a white colleague.
Clinical Laboratory Technologist and Technician
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Women who have a passion for the laboratory and can stomach bodily fluids can earn more than men in this profession, BLS reports. They make an average of $47,372, nearly $5,000 more per year than their male counterparts.
Food Prep and Food Service Worker
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It might not be the loftiest of career goals, or pay the most, but women who work in food prep and service, which includes fast food workers, make a fair bit more than their male coworkers.
Model
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This is one job where the wage gap is completely reversed. Female models make quite a bit more than male models. Looking at a Forbes report released earlier this decade that compared the 10 highest-paid female and male models over two years, women made a total of about $105 million while the men clocked in at about $7.6 million. Women's fashion is a bigger market, and the work is higher-paying and more abundant. However, as French model Baptiste Nicol noted in a Huffington Post story: "You have to take into account that a male model will have his best earning years between 30 and 50" — by which time, the outlet went on to write, "most female models' maximum earning potential is behind them." Sigh. But, it should be noted, that this is an industry in which even the non-super contingent of female models are paid about $13,000 more per year than the rank-and-file male models.
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