Nobody wants to work for free but sometimes women work for next to nothing. Historically, the gender pay gap has averaged about 20% less in earnings for women than for men. It can be challenging to find a job you love and lets you live comfortably. If you are getting ready to enter the workforce, or if you are considering a career change, look at this list of the top five best and worst paid jobs for women!
Top 5 Best Paying
- Chief Executives: While more males than women hold these positions, Forbes ranked this as number one on their list for women. Women in the US hold over 300,000 of these titles but men still bring in a paycheck about 22% higher.
- Lawyer: The legal profession has been seeing an increase in female bar exam applicants. Lawyers can choose to work be self-employed or freelancing, or, at an established law firm.
- Pharmacist: Although men still are the high earners in this profession, women dominate it. Around 60% of all pharmacists are women, earning just under $100,000 per year.
- Nurse Practitioners: Almost totally dominated by women, the average yearly paycheck is just over $90,000.
- Tech and IT: There are many subsidiaries of this profession, including software development, IT managers, engineers, and many others. Average base salaries are a respectable $50,000+ per year.
Top 5 Worst Paying
- Physicians and Surgeons: Women are now widely accepted in this field but men still make much more. On average, women earn 37% less for performing the exact same procedures.
- Insurance Agents: All the sales field professions see males leaving females in the dust when it comes to earnings, but women are extremely outclassed in this category. On average, they are only earning roughly 40% of what men do.
- Financial Advisors: Women are not well represented in this field, with only about 35% of financial advisors being women. This occupation also had the largest pay gap between men and women, with women bringing home a paycheck around $700 less per week.
- Auditors and Accountants: This field is still male dominant and it shows in the gender pay gap. A man receives, at average, $1400 per week, while a woman doing the same job brings home roughly $1000.
- Instructors and Teachers: The teaching profession has long been thought of as a job for women. Today’s society has seen that change with more men entering the profession than ever before. Unfortunately, this has not given women a leg up in the pay department. Men still reportedly earn around $1100, while females only have $800 in the end of the week.
Gender bias on the pay scale is slowly changing in some occupations while it is getting worse in others. However, this does not mean you should settle for less. Whichever career you choose, make yourself indispensable and work hard to prove you are worth the same pay as the guy at the desk beside you!