In the words of a bunch of movies, “Opinions are like ‘noses’ everyone has got one” (you can substitute whatever rude part of your body that you only have 1 of if you wish). Over my time writing, I have had many people ask me questions about their financial situation. I usually will answer the queries, but couch them thoroughly with the statement, “This is only my opinion”. Some might say that is being weaselly, but I am also aware that I don’t have all of the training and understanding of the financial world to offer confident and correct advice to anyone (I don’t follow my own advice), so keep that in mind if you are going to ask for my opinion on a financial question.
Stats Canada is pointing out that between 1981 and 2001 the number of women with University degrees has increased from 21% to 34% (aged 24 to 29 years old), which I think is great (being the father of daughters). For men of the same age group there was an increase but only from 16% to 21% which is good to hear as well
The concern is that there still exists a gap between what men take home and women take home (in that age group). In 1991 the gap was 20% and by 2001 it had dropped to 18%, which is progress (but still a long distance to go).
A reason put forward by the study is:
This was largely the result of real wage declines in female-dominated disciplines, such as health and education, and real wage increases in male-dominated disciplines, such as engineering, mathematics, computer sciences and physical sciences.
A purely statistical statement made by Stats Canada, which some might construe as being sexist, but as a mathematician, I understand the point being made (sexist connotations aside).
The full detailed study: Has Higher Education Among Young Women Substantially Reduced the Gender Gap in Employment and Earnings? is available at the Stats Canada web page for free.
Not sure I completely buy into that statement, however, if you want a more controversial view on things, you should read:
In Defense of Elitism
Which makes wider scoping statements about affirmative action and feminism, that is much more controversial.
There was a book written about the “wage-gap” the name and author escape me now. He was a former (and I think only) male to serve on the board of the national organization of women in the US.
His (and other) research showed that once you control for age, experience, education, and hours worked there is virtually no difference. In fact he found that in some cases women earned much more than men.
I ultimately came down to the choices people make.