Can Women Close the Wage Gap through Educational Gains?

Women have made extraordinary strides in closing the gender wage gap. Education is their primary strategy for gaining access to the labor force and achieving economic prosperity. Since 1975, the gender wage gap has narrowed by 24 cents, and women’s participation in college has nearly doubled. The analysis suggests that the wage gap is 7 percent smaller than it would be without women’s advantage in educational attainment.

But while women’s educational achievements have led to economic progress, their earnings still lag behind men’s. Today, women earn only 81 cents to the dollar paid to men if we don’t control for education or occupation. Some of the difference is attributable to educational and career choices since women tend to opt for more traditional nurturing and care-giving majors and occupations that pay less. However, even when controlling for education level, college major, and occupation, women still make only 92 cents for every dollar paid to men. This gap can lead to a more than $1M difference in earnings over the course of a career.

Moreover, although the wage gap has narrowed, men’s earnings are higher than women’s at every education level. Right out of high school, men earn over $10,000 more than women, and that difference grows at each level of attainment. At the bachelor’s degree level, men earn over $25,000 more than women on average. A woman with a bachelor’s degree and that much more training earns about the same as a man with an associate’s degree. In fact, to earn as much as men, women generally need one more degree than men.

The reality is that 75 percent of well-paying jobs that require only a high school diploma go to men. Women need more than high school, and ideally at least a bachelor’s degree to make family-sustaining wages.

Fortunately, women are earning those extra degrees. In the United States, approximately 3 million more women than men are enrolled in postsecondary education. And women aren’t just enrolling—they’re achieving. Women now outnumber men at every level of educational attainment. Sixty-one percent of associate's degrees, 57 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 60 percent of master’s degrees, and 52 percent of doctoral degrees are awarded to women.

So while the gender wage gap persists, women are taking strides to close it. Education has been and will continue to be a crucial strategy. But education alone is not enough, and women can’t close the gap on their own. Ultimately, solving the gender wage gap will require new policy solutions and cultural changes that encourage some women to take the path less traveled.

Read more about the gender pay gap in our report, Women Can’t Win: Despite Making Educational Gains and Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still Earn Less than Men.

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Dr. Carnevale is Director and Research Professor of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, an independent, nonprofit research and policy institute affiliated with the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy that studies the link between education, career qualifications, and workforce demands.