A Large Gender Wage Gap for College Graduates in West Virginia

A new report from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University finds that women made up 57 percent of all students who graduated from public colleges and universities in the state over the previous decade. The data showed that only 41 percent of the male graduates of the past 10 years were working in state in 2013. In contrast, 52 percent of the women graduates of the past 10 years were working in West Virginia in 2013.

For male graduates of West Virginia public colleges and universities who were still working in the state, their average earnings were $50,400. For women graduates of West Virginia public colleges and universities who were still working in the state, their average earnings were $38,800. This is a 30 percent gender wage gap.

The report also found that the wage gap increases as graduates of West Virginia public colleges and universities get older. The gender wage gap for all graduates over the past 10 years was $11,600. But for men and women who graduated in the 2002-03 academic year, the gender wage gap was $22,900.

The report, From Higher Education to Work in West Virginia, 2013, may be downloaded by clicking here.