New Census Bureau Report Documents the Large and Growing Gender Gap in STEM Jobs

A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau contains data on employment in the information technology field. The report finds that there are now 4.6 million Americans who hold jobs in informational technology. They make up 2.9 percent of the U.S. labor force. Some 22 percent of all IT workers hold a master’s degree compared to 12 percent of the entire U.S. workforce.

There remains a large gender gap in employment in the field. In 2014, only 25 percent of jobs in the information technology sector were held by women. Even more troubling is the fact that the percentage of women in high-tech jobs has declined in recent years. In 1990, 31 percent of all jobs in the informational technology field were held by women.

The gender gap is also apparent in earnings, according to the Census Bureau report. The median earnings for men in high-tech jobs is $82,370. For women, the median earnings figure is $72,035.

Database administrators had the highest percentage of women workers  (38 percent) but also had among the largest wage gaps between men and women. For database administrators, men’s median earnings were $86,855 compared to $56,890 for women.