When it Comes to Equal Pay, Who's Worse Off--Women JDs or Women MBAs?

AmLawDaily
April 20, 2010 6:35 PM

by Vivia Chen
Tuesdsay was Equal Pay Day, but women had little reason to celebrate given how far they lag behind men in compensation. Currently in the U.S., women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
"Twenty-three cents might not sound like a lot until you do the math," wrote Ilene Lang, president of Catalyst, a nonprofit organization working to achieve greater equality and opportunities for working women. "The small nicks to a woman's paycheck add up to astonishing amounts. A woman who graduates high school will earn roughly $700,000 less than her male classmates over the course of her life. A female college graduate will earn $1.2 million less."
Also, women holding professional degrees (JDs, MBAs, and MDs) fare even worse--over the course of their careers, they will earn $2 million less than the men in their graduating class, says Lang. "How's that for a graduation gift?" (Lang was writing in a column posted early Tuesday on Catalyst's blog, Catalyzing.)

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