While the newly released U.S. Census Bureau report on income and poverty rates in the United States shows a persistent gender gap in earnings with women lagging behind men, educational attainment paints a different picture.
On college campuses throughout the country, women typically outnumber men—especially in the African-American community. Even with college degrees working in favor of women, there is a distinct disparity in translating education into income.
According to the report, the data show that, for 2011, there were 58 million men who were year-round, full-time employees compared to 43.7 million women. Men who worked full time, all year round had average earnings of $48,202. For women the average earnings for year-round, full-time workers were $37,118. Women on average earned about 77 cents on the dollar compared to men.
“The bias is still there. There is not a state in the union that pays women dollar for dollar what they pay men,” says Dr. Dennis Kimbro, a Clark-Atlanta University School of Business faculty member and internationally known author and speaker on building wealth. “There are a number of factors such as the good-old-boy network and how women network. The progression model must change. Managers must be held accountable.”
Last year, the Census Bureau reported that, for the first time in American history, there were a million more female college graduates than male. In 2000 it was the opposite: There were a million more men than women with a bachelor’s or graduate degree. For all types of higher education, the number of women earning degrees is rising faster than the number of men earning the same degrees.
But for all the gains in education, a gap persists in the marketplace when it comes to earnings.
Kimbro also notes challenges in corporate America, where more women are leaving to start businesses where they believe the playing field is more level, and even new graduates are bypassing traditional jobs to jump into entrepreneurship. Women-owned businesses are among the fastest growing in the nation.
