Women Earning More Than Men in These Jobs

Last week, in an article helping women ask for a raise, I mentioned that a pay gap still exists between men and women, even after adjusting for certain variables. Women leave the workforce more often than men to take care of children, for example. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, nine cents of the 23 cent per dollar difference cannot be explained away.

Whether or not you agree with the study, when you look closer at any specific data points, you could find a different story. If you are a woman who wants to earn more than a man for doing the same job, you might be interested in one of these career paths, culled by US News & World Report from Department of Labor Data.

Science technician. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, female science techs in this group earned a median of $740 a week last year, compared with male techs, who had median earnings of $723 a week.” This is a group of technicians that don’t fall into other Department of Labor science technician categories. Included are life, physical, and social science technicians.

Teaching assistant. “Female teacher assistants had median earnings of $474 a week last year, compared with male teacher assistants’ median earnings of $453 a week.” Can this be attributable to more men who may not stay in this profession as long?

Busser and barback. Men in these job earn a median of $360 a week compared with women at $400.

Baker. Make bakers earn $448 a week while women earn $466.

Director. Women on corporate boards of directors have an earning advantage over men. The median director salary for a woman is $131,400 while men earn only $117,300. Could this be due to an initiative to introduce more diversity into corporate boardrooms, traditionally considered an “Old Boy’s Club?”

Executive manager. An informal observation of my corporate division shows there is no disadvantage to being a woman in terms of opportunity. Women’s salaries also feature less variation and unpredictability; perhaps men are more drawn to managerial jobs where compensation is based more on financial performance.

Dietician. “For the past three years, women’s median earnings have been higher than the median earnings for both sexes in the dietitian and nutritionist occupational category.” The data beyond this observation are not available because the sample size of dieticians is too small — there aren’t enough people who have this job.

What about in your career? Salary and compensation is usually confidential, but you may have some insight.

7 Jobs in Which Women Out-Earn Men, Liz Wolgemuth, May 14, 2010