Nurses, surgeons among jobs with widest gender pay gaps

By Megan Knowles for Becker’s Hospital Review

Registered nurses and physicians/surgeons were listed among occupations with the biggest gender pay gaps, according to a report from the American Association of University Women.

The report authors compiled research on gender pay gaps across U.S. jobs. In comparing occupations with at least 50,000 men and 50,000 women in 2017, 107 out of 114 jobs the report authors analyzed had pay gaps that favored men; six occupations had no significant gap; and one had a gap favoring women.

The report included the number of women employed, earnings for men and women and pay ratio. Each job was ranked by its “profession gap,” which revealed women collectively receive billions less in some occupations than they would if they were paid equally. For example, female physicians and surgeons are collectively paid about $19 billion less a year than if they were paid the same as men in that occupation.

Here are the compensation statistics on registered nurses and physicians/surgeons included in the report:

Registered nurses
Women employed: 2,092,489
Men’s earnings: $71,590
Women’s earnings: $65,612
Pay ratio: 92 percent
Profession gap: $12.5 billion

Physicians/surgeons
Women employed: 274,511
Men’s earnings: $243,072
Women’s earnings: $171,880
Pay ratio: 71 percent
Profession gap: $19.5 billion

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One comment

  1. Hmm. I wonder is this study actually compared equal job roles and hours worked? I wonder if they took in to account that women often take more time away from work to tend to family/parenting responsibilities? Anyone who has worked as a nurse understands that not all RN jobs are the same. Perhaps women more often chose jobs that are more convenient for allowing them time to care for children and other family responsibilities. I know I did. Are the surgeons doing the same type and quantity of surgeries or do women often make different choices in this field too? I have never personally witnessed a man getting paid more for the same level of job commitment and duties, but I have found than some of the jobs I have taken for the benefit of my family have not always paid as well as other jobs I could have chosen, a price I was willing to pay for lifestyle.

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