Gender Earnings Gap among Workers with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree, by Highest Degree and Field of Bachelor’s, 2015

Unfortunately, gender also makes a substantial difference in graduates’ subsequent earnings. Across all fields, women earn substantially less than their male counterparts, though the 20% gender gap in earnings among holders of terminal bachelor’s degrees in the humanities was smaller than that for the science fields.

In most fields, including the humanities, the gap in earnings between men and women was larger for advanced degree holders, though the difference for graduates with a bachelor’s degree in the humanities was relatively modest.1

Endnotes

• 1U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. In keeping with the practice of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the gap was calculated by dividing the difference between men’s and women’s median earnings by men’s median earnings.