Do Women "Choose" To Make Less Money Than Men?

When I wrote my post on It's a Man's World (Or Is It?), I was trying to do some research on the ratio of men to women in marketing. Instead, I found an interesting article called Majors by Gender: Is It Bias or the Major that Determines Future Pay? The US Census shows a gender wage gap of a woman getting paid about 77 cents for every 1 dollar a man is paid. However, according to their studies, females tend to make less than males is because they choose majors (and thus jobs) that pay a lower national median income. And these particular majors pay less to both men and women. Common majors for females include public relations, elementary education, and nursing, while common majors for men include engineering, finance, and sports management. Hmm, even with those six example jobs, the latter three careers already seem to be higher paying.

Check out the full article for more data, but I was interested in the why behind women choosing lower paying majors and jobs. The hypothesis: men place more emphasis on salary and will select dangerous jobs or even majors they don't even like just for the money. Economists at the New York Federal Reserve found that "men tend to care more about money and income potential when choosing a major, while women place a higher importance on non-pecuniary aspects (e.g. work schedule, enjoying coursework, gaining parents' approval, etc.)." I totally agree. I personally would much rather stay in a job I liked, have a flexible schedule, and work from home than make the big bucks that my master's degree says I deserve. And yes, if I searched long and hard enough, I could probably find another company that provided all four benefits, but I'm just not as driven to rock the status quo. Unlike K, I suppose, but more on that later...