Wage gap, by educational attainment

Wage gap between men and women narrows as education level rises

• Higher levels of education are generally associated with higher wages. The supply of workers with very high levels of education is fairly limited, driving up their earnings. Sometimes education is also used as a screening process that indicates a capacity to learn new abilities or to apply critical thinking in new ways. In 2005, master's and doctoral graduates earned $28.78 per hour, on average, an amount 74% higher than that earned by employees with a high school diploma only ($16.54).
• The higher the level of education, the narrower the wage gap between the sexes, expressed as a proportion of earnings. However, women's hourly wages continue to fall below men's at all levels of education. For example, women with a bachelor's degree earned 85 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2005, while women with an educational level of grade 8 or less earned 73 cents for every dollar earned by men.

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