Gender Pay Gap: 10 High Paying Jobs for Women

Posted by Kristina Cowan

Have you ever wondered why there’s a gender pay gap  between men  and women? “Why do women make less money than men?” is a surprisingly common career question. Even more surprising: according to bestselling author and gender issues expert, Dr. Warren Farrell, in some fields women are now bringing home bigger paychecks than men.

If you think men always earn more than women, you’re wrong.

That’s according to a book by Farrell titled Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap—and What Women Can Do About It, which says women in certain fields earn more than men. According to Farrell’s website, the book shows how the gender pay gap is not about gender discrimination in the workplace, but about “25 differences between men and women’s work-life decisions.” Not only does Farrell’s book discuss the issues of equal pay for women, but it also strives to help women achieve higher pay and understand the tradeoffs involved—and whether they’re worth it.

Based on median salary numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the book identifies a number of high paying jobs for women,, explaining, “when women’s pay is significantly greater than men’s, it can be in male-dominated fields, female-dominated fields, or well-integrated fields.” Some positions where women tend to earn more than men include sales engineers, automotive technicians and mechanics, financial analysts, human resources assistants, and advertising and promotions managers.

Farrell says there are various reasons why these are becoming high paying jobs for women.

Sales Engineers
As sales engineers, women cross the gender pay gap, with a median pay of $89,908, while men earn $62,660. Female sales engineers often have more access, particularly if buyers are men, because “the average man would rather be sold to by a woman than by a man,” Farrell explains. Women also tend to outpace men verbally, and they’re usually very good with details and following up, he notes, which enhances their performance.

Mechanics and Automotive Technicians
There aren’t a lot of women auto mechanics, and although you might assume that would widen the gender pay gap in favor of men, it’s actually the contrary. Beings, there are so few women automotive technicians, those who are can be considered as “pioneers,” Farrell says. He says “whenever people break traditional roles, the people who do the role-breaking tend to be highly motivated and good … They make more because they are so good, and because people like going to a woman because it’s a novelty.” In these positions, the gender pay gap folds in women’s favor, with the median pay of $40,664; the median for men is $31,460.

Financial Analysts
Female financial analysts also buck the gender pay gap, earning a median pay of $69,004 while men are at $58,604. Women tend to excel whenever a field such as this requires technical skills plus the ability to communicate and pay attention to details, Farrell explains.

“Add to this the fact that top-level executive males would prefer to be presented to by a woman than by a man … and also that female financial analysts are in shorter supply … and you have a blend of characteristics that are likely to make a female financial analyst, on average, more valued,” he says.

Overall, Why Do Women Make Less Money Than Men?

Farrell’s book also examines the question “why do women earn less money than men.” He looks at the gender pay gap on a broad scale, and tries to explain the causes of wage gap between men and women. He suggests men are more likely to make sacrifices leading to increased earnings. Women interested in squashing the gender pay gap and boosting their income might consider some of these sacrifices, he says.

"Put in the hours. People who work 44 hours per week make twice as much as those working 34 hours. That’s 33 percent more work for 100 percent more pay, which makes it cost-efficient to hire out cleaning, errands, etc.,” Farrell explains on his website.

Among the big differences between women’s and men’s work choices, he says, are that “women as a rule don’t work as many hours because their obligations tend to be more divided. They like to fulfill their home obligations. And second, they tend to work less in the evenings and on weekends, and tend to move less for jobs.”

Other ways to hop the gender pay gap? Pick fields in technology or the hard sciences, relocate and/or travel for the job, and commute to jobs further away from home.

10 Careers Where Women Earn More Than Men*

Field	Women’s	Men’s	Women’s Pay as % of Men’s
Sales engineers	$89,908	$62,660	143%
Statisticians	$49,140	$36,296	135%
Legislators	$43,316	$32,656	133%
Automotive technicians and mechanics	$40,664	$31,460	129%
Library assistants, clerical	$23,608	$18,512	128%
Baggage porters, bellhops, and concierges	$26,468	$21,684	122%
Financial analysts	$69,004	$58,604	118%
Aerospace engineers	$78,416	$70,356	111%
Human resources assistants, except payroll and timekeeping	$30,420	$28,028	109%
Advertising and promotions managers	$42,068	$40,144	105%

*From Why Men Earn More: An excerpt of Table 4, pgs. 12-13, titled “39 Fields in Which Women Earn at Least 5% More Than Men.” The data is based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Comments

[Wendy S.]

Great, so women get paid more in certain jobs. What about upper level management/officer positions? There is still a glass ceiling no matter how you cut it. And I don't buy Farrell's justification that women don't work as many hours or make as many sacrifices. What about those women who are single, have always been single, and still can't break the glass ceiling?

It seems to me that Farrell is taking a few outlying professions to justify his position, and for the rest of it, he places blame on women.

[Judy]

Re: Gender Pay Gap - 10 High Paying Jobs for Women

One way to equal the pay gaps that still exist is to further your education. But many women find it difficult to attend traditional schools of higher learning. So online schools such as Almeda University can certainly help. For more information, go to http://www.almedauniversity.org.

[Skeptical Lady]

Are you kidding me? In every place I've worked, across the last 26 years, a 44-hour week was considered practically part-time. 60+ is more the norm in the 21st century--evenings & weekends, too--with no paid overtime. And I've been working those hours--the "professional day". Where are those 34-hour-a-week jobs? Bring 'em on!

I've been in the financial services industry for the last 15 years, and in my experience the pay gap for women is vast. Perhaps the financial analyists in your sample worked for insurance companies, which are highly regulated? (Hint, hint.)

[Venus]

I do big box retail management and the men that I work with make almost twice what I do for the same job. They are given pay increases for time in service while I must obtain higher education to even be considered. They are not judged the same as women and are often given more respect for less knowledge. We do the same amount of hours... 60+, but I believe I sacrifice more being a single parent of two while most of them, if they have children, have a wife to depend on. The glass ceiling makes me want to open my own business!

[Randall Burns]

This data needs to be looked at VERY carefully. The problem with comparing salaries is that we aren't adjusting for cost of living in different areas. The legislator example above shows this clearly. In each state, all legislators are paid the same. However, women are more likely to have that job in states that pay better. There is a question whether those states actually have a pay differential that is better given their cost of living.

I think what we may be seeing here is that women tend to obtain some specific jobs in high cost of living areas/states.

[Valerie]

I think that it is great that a woman's pay/salary in some occupations are higher. women get look down on because, some men feel it is a man's job to be a automotive techician. women of today are proving many sterotypes wrong, that being said we as women have the right to persue any career we want. Even if to some its look upon as a male career. I also go on to say that we should'nt really be that focused on comparing, yearly salaries between males and females. Because, what about the cost of living and in todays society it hard. Exspecially if your a single parent. I believe in equality and we a america are suppose to be one, and instead of looking down on a woman for doing a mans job. And a man for desiring to do a womans job. There's is more important things, such as providing for your families. So, in conclusion wheather your a man or a woman, some body has to the job.