Georgetown University Examines Gender Gap in Income Among American Graduate Degree Holders

In the United States, individuals with a graduate degree experience higher rates of employment and financial benefits. However, a new report from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University has uncovered a severe gender gap in the earnings between men and women graduate degree holders.

According to the report, women are overrepresented among America’s graduate degree holders. Women represent about 51 percent of Americans aged 25-64, but 56 percent of graduate degree holders. This is a significant increase from 1970, when only 35 percent of Americans with graduate degrees were women.

However, despite these significant strides in graduate degree attainment, women are still earning significantly less than their male peers. The average yearly salary for women graduate degree holders is $85,000, while the average salary for men with graduate degrees is a $119,000. This severe gender gap in earnings among graduate degree holders is worse than the gap among bachelor’s degree holders and workers overall. On average, women in America make 80 cents for every one dollar earned by men. For bachelor’s degree and graduate degree holders, this gap widens to 74 cents and 71 percent, respectively.

The income gap between men and women with graduate degrees is partly attributed to gender differences within academic fields. Women are more likely to earn a graduate degree that leads to fields with lower earnings, such as education and humanities, while men are more likely to earn graduate degrees in traditionally high-earning fields, such as STEM and business. However, the gender gap in income persists even when examining specific fields. In every field of study other than humanities and the arts, women earn less per year than men with the same degree.