By Lisa Yarrow
Median Earnings for Women up 2% to $0.79 for Every Dollar Earned by Men in Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Despite modest gains over the past for years, the wage gap for women persists, according to a recent report of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Women’s Summit. Since 2007, we have seen an increase of about 2 points in the ratio of women’s to men’s earnings. This means that on average, women in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are now earning $0.79 for every $1.00 earned by a man for similar work requiring similar education and skills.
The report also highlights a startling trend: The wage gap increases with the level of educational attainment. Women in Charlotte-Mecklenburg who have less than a high school diploma (or equivalent) earn roughly 82% of what a man with a similar educational background earn. Yet women who have a graduate or professional degree earn only 62%. While it seems shocking that women with advanced degrees earn proportionately less than women with less than a high school education, research suggests a number of reasons for this disparity including educational attainment, career choice, segregation of industries by gender and discrimination.
All of the news is not bad news, though: There are indications that young women entering the workforce are more rapidly closing the gender pay gap.
Posted by Mary Elizabeth Murphy on May 18, 2011 at 6:10 pm
While the disparity between earnings for men and women with advanced degrees is surprising, the fact remains that women can be proactive and forthright in their quest for equal pay for equal work. Midway through the last decade, 47% of all private businesses were at least 50% owned by women. That’s a startling amount of control in the private sector. Furthermore, research and analysis group Catalyst recently found that companies with the highest percentages of women in their employ exhibited up to a 35% higher return on equity than those with low percentages.
Armed with this information, it is beneficial for women who believe they’re being shortchanged to visit with their superiors and have a frank, open discussion about fair pay. They can be confident in their salary negotiations knowing exactly what they’re worth in the market, rather than simply as women in the market. The good news is that young women today are more likely to insist on equal pay, to speak to your blog’s last paragraph, and they are therefore closing that gap considerably.