Women with PH.Ds in science and engineering fields are earning up to 1/3 less than men in the field one year after graduation, according to a recent study.
The paygap is reduced from 31 percent less to 11 percent less when the researchers looked at what fields women were entering. Generally, women tend to earn degrees, but then enter academia or government work even though private industry affords better salaries. In fact, 59 percent of the women completed dissertations in the lower-paying STEM careers like biology, chemistry, and health. Meanwhile, men were two times as likely to become engineers and 1.5 times as likely to study computer science, math, or physics, which tend to be more lucrative career paths.
“Perhaps that’s just what interested them. Or were they guided there at a young age by teachers or parents? Or did they try a more male-dominated field but have bad experiences that drove them out? We just don’t know,” says Bruce Weinberg, co-author of the study and professor of economics at The Ohio State University in a press release. “We can get a sense of some of the reasons behind the pay gap, but our study can’t speak to whether any of the gap is due to discrimination. Our results do suggest some lack of family-friendliness for women in these careers.”
The study looked at 1,237 PH.D students from four U.S.-based universities who were supported by research projects with data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The researchers found that the biggest pay gap involved married women with children, whereas childless and single women tend to have a smaller paygap.
“We can’t tell from our data what’s going on there. There’s probably a combination of factors. Some women may consciously choose to be primary caregivers and pull back from work. But there may also be some employers putting women on a ‘mommy track’ where they get paid less,” says Weinberg.
Women also tend to be on smaller research teams, which may seem insignificant, but can lead to less prestigious projects and a smaller professional network, according to Weinberg. Even if women do enter the private industry, which some do, the pay gaps are much larger there than in academia or government work.
The team will continue with the research, hopefully eventually expanding the universities to include 150 schools. The current research suggests companies should re-examine family leave policies to encourage diversity in hiring.
