Pay Gap Seen in Science

Significant salary discrepancies still exist between males and females with equal degrees in the same science and engineering fields, according to a report released by the National Science Foundation (NSF) this week.

But this trend might not hold true for Harvard job seekers—the director of the Office of Career Services, Bill Wright-Swadel, said that although Harvard does not track the salaries graduates go on to earn, he has not seen any indication of male-female discrepancies.

“When we talk with the employers and we talk with the students, we’re not getting a sense that there’s a disparity in salary,” Wright-Swadel said.

In the study, although the difference between the average salary for males and females varied based on the area of concentration and degree level, men outearned women in all fields, except for women with bachelor’s degrees in health.

The largest discrepancy existed between men and women with master’s degrees in computer and information sciences, where men earned an average of $10,000 more than women.

Overall, men in science fields outearned women by 17 percent, according to the report.

Senior Analyst and Project Officer John Tsapogas said the discrepancies among demographic groups were the most significant results of the report.

“There’s always been a problem with respect to representation of women and minorities in science and engineering,” Tsapogas said.

Wright-Swadel said he sees the importance of encouraging more women to pursue the sciences and engineering.

“I think the fact that women and minority students look the field but don’t persist as long is real,” he said. “I think Harvard is certainly taking a leadership role in its own efforts to work with its own students right now.”

Wright-Swadel pointed to the Program for Research in Science and Engineering, an undergraduate research program launched this summer following the recommendations of the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering.

Overall, women outnumbered men in the sciences and engineering by 56 percent to 44 percent, according to the study. But the inclusion of the social sciences, a female-dominated discipline, is responsible for this figure.

By contrast, men outnumbered women by 79 percent to 21 percent in engineering degrees.

The study also addresses differences in the outcomes for minority students in these fields.

White, non-Hispanic students, who comprised two-thirds of the bachelor’s degree recipients, had lower rates of unemployment than other groups. But in spite of higher rates of unemployment than white, non-Hispanic students, Asian-American students had higher salaries by 19 percent.

According to Tsapogas, this report is in line with trends revealed by reports from previous years.

“The trends have pretty much maintained the same track as it has previously. Over a period of time, women have slowly increased their representation,” Tsapogas said. “Some of the racial, ethnic groups have not done as well as women have done. There’s been gradual progress there, too, but it hasn’t been as fast as it has been for women.”

The report, “Characteristics of Recent Science and Engineering Graduates: 2003,” tracks bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients in the sciences and in engineering at American colleges and universities in the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 academic years.

The study provides a wide range of statistics and tables centering on the outcomes for these graduates. The NSF publishes this report every two years.