Choosing a college major can be a key determinant in one’s financial trajectory after graduation. But for women, the majority still opt-in to fields with significantly lower payouts than men, a new report found.
A new study by Bankrate looked at data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey in 2021 and examined median salaries based on 150 college majors and found that the most lucrative college majors are dominated by men.
Even though women now make up over half of the college-educated workforce (50.6%) in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center, women still earn 18% less than men. What’s the key factor contributing to the gender pay gap? The disparity in college majors. Men are choosing engineering and computer science fields, while women tend to gravitate toward lower-paying majors like early childhood education and social work, the report found.
Bankrate found that 78% of bachelor’s degree holders in the 20 highest-paying majors are men, with median salaries ranging from $85,000 to $110,000, primarily in STEM fields. The degree with the highest median earning potential, electrical engineering, had a median salary of $110,000, and 85% of students with the major were men — only 15% were women.
Related: From Meta to McDonald’s, Here’s How Major Companies Are Working to Close the Gender Pay Gap
The only high-earning majors not heavily dominated by men are pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, and administration, where the median salary is $100,000, and composed of 56% female degree holders as compared to 44% for men. Women are still overrepresented in lower-earning fields, such as nursing, social work, and general education, where median salaries start at $43,000 and peak at $70,000 — a roughly 60% difference from the $110,000 peak for male-dominated degrees.
The study attributes these disparities to stereotypes, socioeconomic challenges, and societal expectations that influence women’s choices of majors and careers.
“Research shows that as men become more concentrated in majors, we then as a society tend to place more value on that field,” Natasha Quadlin, associate professor of sociology and faculty fellow at the California Center for Population Research at UCLA, said in the report. “It’s mutually reinforcing in that whatever men end up choosing and whatever men are highly concentrated in, those are the fields that are going to be seen as desirable and the most highly compensated.”
Related: 5 Ways Women Can Fight the Gender Pay Gap (Besides Asking for More Money)
Here are the top 10 highest-earning bachelor’s degrees, according to the report, along with the percentage of male and female degree holders.
1. Electrical engineering
Median salary: $110,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 85%
Percentage of female degree holders: 15%
2. Computer engineering
Median salary: $104,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 81%
Percentage of female degree holders: 19%
3. Pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences, and administration
Median salary: $100,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 44%
Percentage of female degree holders: 56%
4. Chemical engineering
Median salary: $100,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 70%
Percentage of female degree holders: 30%
5. Computer science
Median salary: $100,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 78%
Percentage of female degree holders: 22%
6. Aerospace engineering
Median salary: $100,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 89%
Percentage of female degree holders: 11%
7. Materials engineering and materials science
Median salary: $98,500
Percentage of male degree holders: 77%
Percentage of female degree holders: 23%
8. Engineering mechanics, physics, and science
Median salary: $95,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 84%
Percentage of female degree holders: 16%
9. Mechanical engineering
Median salary: $95,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 89%
Percentage of female degree holders: 11%
10. Industrial and manufacturing engineering
Median salary: $90,000
Percentage of male degree holders: 72%
Percentage of female degree holders: 28%
You can read the whole study, here.
