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The 10 Worst Jobs For Women Who Want Equal Pay
Equal Pay Day is an annual "holiday" that acknowledges how far into the year women would have to work just to earn as much as men did the year before. This year, Equal Pay Day falls on Tuesday, April 12, and unfortunately, the wage gap between men and women hasn't improved much over the years. The salary website Glassdoor released a study that revealed the professions in which women earn more, less, and the same as their male co-workers with the same jobs. These 10 jobs are the worst for women who want equal pay, and many of them remain male-dominated.
The study, which evaluated 505,000 full-time salary reports across 25 industries, used the statistic that on average, women earn about 76 cents to the man's dollar, though that number is also sometimes reported as 77 or 78 cents. The study adjusted for factors like industry, location, job title, company, and year. Another Glassdoor report on demystifying the pay gap revealed that men earn 24.1 percent higher base pay than women. Of the 10 jobs in which women earn less, five of them have a base pay gap that's 27 percent or higher.
From head chefs to C-suite executives to opticians, women are earning less in professions they've been in for years, yet remain dominated by men.
Computer programming jobs are the worst for women who want equal pay, according to the report. Women in this field experience a 28.3 percent base pay difference, and they earn just 72 cents for every dollar a man earns. Although the report doesn't give specifics for why these women earn less in these professions, the gender breakdown among computer programmers could provide an answer. A 2015 study revealed that 92 percent of software developers are male, meaning women are overwhelmingly outnumbered in this field.
Similarly, women pursuing a career as a chef will experience a 28.1 percent base pay difference and earn 72 cents to every dollar a man earns. Somewhat surprisingly, though women have continued to join the food industry as second- and third-tier chefs, women make up just 6.1 percent of head chefs in the U.S. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Craft Restaurants Managing Director Katie Grieco tried to explain the dearth of women in head chef positions: “I do think in some cases, whether it’s company-specific or industry-specific, there just aren’t as many women who want to do the jobs as men, and I think that executive chef-ing might be one of them."
In 2014, women made up nearly 50 percent of dental school applicants, yet they only account for 26 percent of practicing dentists in the U.S. With a 28.1 percent base pay gap and earning only 72 cents for a man's dollar, women in dentistry aren't getting the equal pay they deserve. It's unclear what accounts for this shift, but the field keeps women's wages at a fraction of their male counterparts.
Here is the complete list of the top 10 jobs in which women earn less, according to the Glassdoor report:
1. Computer Programmer
28.3 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.72 for every $1 men earn
2. Chef
28.1 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.72 for every $1 men earn
3. Dentist
28.1 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.72 for every $1 men earn
4. C-Suite (e.g.: Chief Executives, Chief Financial Officers)
27.7 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.72 for every $1 men earn
5. Psychologist
27.2 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.73 for every $1 men earn
6. Pharmacist
21.8 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.78 for every $1 men earn
7. Computer Aided Design (CAD) Designer
21.5 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.78 for every $1 men earn
8. Physician
18.2 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.82 for every $1 men earn
9. Optician
17.3 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.83 for every $1 men earn
10. Pilot
16 percent base pay differenceWomen earn $0.84 for every $1 men earn
The wage gap varies state to state and disproportionately affects women of color. For example, Latina and Hispanic women earn just 54 cents on average to every dollar a man earns. Women can't wait until 2059 for equal pay, and with consistently low wages in these 10 professions, women will likely be discouraged to enter these fields, thus perpetuating male-dominated industries.
