Posted on 08/07/2011 6:46:59 PM PDT by neverdem
Study hard, receive a science or engineering degree, and your reward will be a well-paying job in your chosen field. That's part of the sales pitch for those trying to attract more women into science. But according to a new U.S. government study, the "reward" includes earning 12% less than your male counterparts.
The 11-page report(PDF), "Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation," is the first analysis of women working in technical fields (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) by the Commerce Department's Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA). The study is based on data from the 2009 American Community Survey, an ongoing questionnaire by the U.S. Census Bureau that supplements the decennial census.
The report's overall conclusion that women are underrepresented in the U.S. STEM workforce -- holding 24% of all STEM jobs while comprising 48% of all workers -- won't be a surprise to anyone who follows the issue. But they may find the lack of progress depressing: "Over the past decade, this underrepresentation has remained fairly constant, even as women's share of the college educated workforce has increased," explains a departmental press release on the report, released yesterday.
Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, a Ph.D. economist who oversees both ESA and the Census Bureau, tried to put the best spin on the salary disparity between men and women in STEM fields. "There is a gender earnings gap across the economy," she told reporters. "But it's actually smaller in STEM areas than in non-STEM areas." Still, she acknowledged that the salary gap raises larger questions. "In fact, one might think that the smaller [salary] gap might actually draw women into STEM jobs. So it adds to the puzzle of what is it that we are doing inside our schools and our families that makes STEM jobs seemingly less attractive to girls."
Blank said the survey didn't analyze the gender salary gap by work setting, such as industry versus academia. "But we did look at the gap by occupations," she notes. "And what's interesting is that engineering, which has the lowest percentage of women, actually has the smallest gender gap. It's only 7 cents."
She said the gender earnings gap "is one of the big research questions in economics. Why does it exist, even after you control for presumably what are all of the productivity attributes?" Even so, she's willing to hazard a guess. One answer, she says, is that "women don't seem to get the same number of promotions and wage increases as men do."
Why the Gender Gap Won’t Go Away. Ever. Women prefer the mommy track.
I didn't read that PDF. We're broke, and we have to pay for politically correct nonsense!!!
It won’t matter anyway...
“Dollar to Be ‘Discarded’ by World: China Rating Agency”
Show me the internal data. Show me the maternity leaves. Show me the mommy-tracking. If it isn’t there I will respect the results. If it is there I don’t listen to a damned thing this researcher says.
Kidding! Just kidding!
In the present economy they should be thankful they have a job! Period!
Maybe they are not as good at it?
Here is my anecdotal story, my friends are both PHDs at Goethe University, the husband is German and a top research scientist, aggressive and obsessed in his work and field, his wife is Swiss, she now works in an important role in the Dean’s office, and tells me that she never wanted to be a PHD, she only wanted to raise a family and live a normal life.
BINGO!!! Mommy Tracking! In addition, women usually take more "secure," less dangerous jobs in general thus the lower pay. I love how all the feminazis leave this "inconvenient truth" out of their incessant "wage gap" studies.
Just another garbage government study claiming that some demographic doesn’t get enough special treatment while that same government showers them with incentives, free advanced degree programs, and career advancement opportunities.
What’s even worse is that when you hire somebody based on what demographic they belong to, it means that you’re NOT hiring them on engineering ability. These losers wind up being promoted quickly to administration because they can’t cut it as engineers. When these women rise in the ranks, the first thing they do is set out to hire more women because they’re taught their whole lives that they’re getting a bum rap and men are always holding them down. It’s a self-perpetuating problem.
How cool!
You think if Palin or Bachmann win the presidency we can cut their pay?
Balance the budget and all, y'know. :>)
Frankly, my dear, I no longer give a smelly Obama.
b.s.
when i had jobs that either i didn’t like, or fit into, or was taken advantage of,
i found a better job.
i think in salary negotiations, a lot of women are more prone to take the first offer it's the HR persons job to low ball offers to get the best deal the company can get, it's not their fault if women agree to less money than a man would be offered for the same job
that's why it's called salary NEGOTIATIONS...
Those are feminists from a government putsch of the ‘90s. Real women who want to be engineers will do just fine.
Yes, we do.
Sometimes there is only the one job available. It is tough. I’d rather be working but the job I have is not a good one.
They shouldn’t complain... scientists at the University of Tennessee are all Volunteers.
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