Education in States and Nations: 1991

(ESN) Indicator 28: Gender differences in earnings

This indicator reflects the difference in earnings between males and females who have attained equal levels of education in a state or nation. Gender differences in earnings are measured by the ratio of the average annual earnings of women to men in the 25- to 64-year-old age cohort by level of educational attainment. A gap in the earnings levels between males and females may illustrate existing occupational gender roles in the workforce or may reflect societal attitudes toward the relative skill levels of males and females performing the same job. Within a range of occupations requiring similar amounts of schooling, certain occupations with lower earnings may traditionally be associated with and pursued by females.

• In all countries and states around 1990, the average annual earnings for females was less than that of males with the same level of educational attainment.

• For all levels of educational attainment except non-university higher education, at least half of the other countries reported as high or higher ratios of average annual earnings of females to males than did the U.S. state with the highest ratio.

• Among those whose highest level of educational attainment was at least a university degree, forty-eight states had female:male ratios of average annual earnings below all but two other countries. Forty-one of these states had ratios lower than any other country.

• In some states and nations (such as Canada and Alaska), the female-to- male earnings ratio increased consistently with higher levels of educational attainment. In Utah it decreased consistently. In other states and nations, the relationship among the female-to-male earnings ratios across the levels of educational attainment was flat or inconsistent.

Notes on interpretation:

There are marked differences among countries with respect to whether certain programs are classified as belonging to the university, non-university, or upper secondary sector. For example, in some countries, programs leading to qualifications in teaching and nursing are considered to be university programs; in others, they are non-university programs. Furthermore, some programs that are begun subsequent to the completion of general secondary education are classified as non-university higher education in parts of Canada and the United States, whereas they are defined as upper secondary education in most other countries. To the extent that enrollment in any of these programs tend to be dominated by one gender, that can distort comparisons across countries using this indicator. For example, if most nursing students are female in each of two countries, but one country classifies nursing education as a university program while the other classifies it as non- university higher education, the first country may have a higher female proportion at the university level and a lower female proportion at the non- university higher education level. Furthermore, if nurses have relatively high earnings, the level of educational attainment to which nursing graduates are assigned will have a relatively higher female-to-male earnings ratio.

A group of females at the same level of educational attainment as a group of males may have lower average earnings because they differ in other characteristics - average age, years of job experience, or full-time/part-time status, for instance - that are also highly correlated with earnings levels.

Table 27b

Figure 28a