The Major Employment Advantage for Women With a Higher Education

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the value of higher education to women. In 2011, 13,736,000 of the 20,269,000 women with a bachelor’s degree (and no graduate degree) were employed. Thus, 67.8 percent of women with a bachelor’s degree had jobs.

In 2011 there were  31,541,000 women with a high school diploma and no college degree. Of these, 14,624,000, or 46.4 percent, were employed.

It must be noted that there are many women in both educational groups who choose not to be in the labor force in order to raise a family or for other reasons. However, the huge difference in employment rates shows the major advantage of a college education for women.

If we consider women with higher degrees, we find that 71.8 percent of women with master’s degrees and 72.5 percent of women with professional degrees were employed in 2011. For women with doctorates, 80.3 percent held jobs in 2011.