The pay gap still exists. The presidential candidates even mentioned its continued existence. We may not make women wear aprons and bake pies anymore but there are still differences at the workplace. College girls are still not immune to the possibility of a pay gap. In fact, the future salary of a college female graduate is different from her male peers.
A study by the Center for American Progress has shown that men make more money six years after college than women do ten years after entering schools. This wage gap persists across both public and private colleges and universities. The study used date from the College Scorecard, a government database that includes earnings for students who received financial aid, to determine how quickly the wage gap sets in after college. The study focuses on students who entered college in 2001 or 2002, the most recent cohort that includes 6-year and 10-year data.
What exactly is the difference between men and women regarding salaries? Why is this a big deal? The study found that men at the 6-year mark make roughly $4,000 a year more than women at ten years. Basically a man will make more in six years than a woman will in ten years. A young man right out of college makes an average hourly wage of $20.94 while a woman generally makes $16.58 an hour. That makes a $9,000 annual difference!
Ivy League women have it better but they still face the same differences in spite of having fancy degrees to show off. Men who attended Ivy League schools such as Harvard generally make $26,000 a year more than their female classmates ten years after enrolling. These women still make way more than a woman from, say, Rutgers makes but the difference still exists.
Do not assume that pursuing a female-dominated career makes it all better. The top three male-dominated occupations (software developer, computer-systems administrator, and construction manager) all offered higher average pay than the top three female-dominated jobs (elementary-school teacher, registered nurse, and human-resources specialist). The average income for a 22-year-old man in this analysis was $40,800 while a 22-year-old woman made $31,090. This huge gap shows how necessary it is to make careers less gender-oriented.
Besides gender equality, we need to be serious about this. Why should college females care? For one, it will affect you sooner or later. Think of it this way: if men are earning more than us, then that means they're able to pay back their student loans faster and without significant burden. Men will also be more likely to afford to live on their own sooner after graduating while we women might have to stay at home longer or live in a box. Young workers tend to switch jobs more frequently than older works, giving them more opportunities for raises, but if women begin at a lower starting salary, those raises will likely be less than a man's.
Why should the gap still exist? Are we not past the days when women were expected to quit sooner or later in order to bounce a baby on her hip and to support her hubby's career? Do people still believe a guy will be better as a CEO or engineer than a female? We need to put an end to these assumptions. It is time that female college graduates are given their dues.
