female salaries

fiestynurse · Nov 22, 2001

Here's some information from an article in "Outlook" ( published by the American Association of university Women)

According to the U.S. Census Bureau Population Survey in March 2001, the average salary for men in this country is $37,339 and the average salary for women is $27,355 (73%)

In addition, the National Committee on Pay Equity and "Working Woman" (July/August 2001) lists these statistics:

Pediatrician: Men $138,174 Women $116,331

Secretary: Men $32,400 Women $22,500

Software Engineer: Men $57,799 Women $47,143

Lawyer: Men $125,000 Women $99,400

Nurse: Men $44,500 Women $39,100

They point out that women in female dominated professions confront a different kind of discrimination. Jobs traditionally held by women pay less than jobs traditionally held by men-even when the positions require the same or comparable education, skills, and responsibilities. And the pay gap increases with age. Women are more vulnerable to poverty in retirement, according to OWL (The Voice of Midlife and Older Women)

donmurray · Nov 23, 2001

I don't have yhe statistics, but the UK position is brodly similar at around 80% difference, despite 20 years of equal pay legislation.

fergus51 · Nov 23, 2001

According to Canadian stats women make 72 cents on the dollar for men and women earn an average of 9 000$ less than men who are visible minorities.

essarge · Nov 23, 2001

I just researched the pay for NP's and this is the amounts that statistics showed for 1999. Men-$62,680 and women $58,120. Pretty sad isn't it?

seven · Nov 24, 2001

that whole thing about female nurses earning less than male nurse chaps my butt!

i first read about this in my intro soci book (am a nsg student)and was utterly shocked...even more shocked when the majority of my fellow nsg students didn't seem that suprised or upset...

does anybody have a remotely rational explantation to describe this oddness?

thisnurse · Nov 24, 2001

seven...its not odd. unfortunately, its the way of the world.

its still a mans world. thats why i think that males entering nursing is the best thing that could happen to our profession. it will raise our pay rate.

sad but true.

PButler · Nov 24, 2001

I can't comment on the other professions salaries but I don't know of any male nurses that make more $$ than females without working more overtime. Every hospital I have worked in pays based on credentials and years of experience, regardless of sex. The only way to make more than a nurse with the same credentials is to work more hours or have another job.

I am also weary of the "statistics" that are quoted. Are these good studies with large samples or the result of a question posed to only a few people.

I am sure that those discrepencies do exist in many professions...which is sad and should not be...but most nurses are paid by the hour based on their resume. As a male nurse, the only way I could make thousands of dollars more than my equally qualified female coworkers is to work my butt off. Maybe the difference, such as in my own case, is that the male nurse may be the main breadwinner of the family and must therefore work extra hours to make up for our pathetic salaries. If there is truely discrimination of salaries based on sex, then people need to speak up and make a change.

nurs4kids · Nov 24, 2001

PButler,

I agree with you completely. I wonder if the statistics considered the # of hours worked? If a man makes more, it's because he has the ballz to speak up and demand more on the initial interview. Most of the guys here DO work more hours than the women; hence make more. As for hourly salary, we're all the same depending on experience and education. The only thing in nursing that I see is easier for men is the way docs interact with men vs women..but that's a whole different topic.

essarge · Nov 24, 2001

The statistics that I quoted were from this site

http://www.advancefornp.com/npsalsurvey.html

They are also getting ready to post the new survey soon.

fergus51 · Nov 24, 2001

Mine are from Statistics Canada which gets stats from the census and other polling. I consider it pretty reliable. The stats are made for males and females working full time (so the hours are the same). The discreptancies seem to come from the fact that women's traditional jobs like waitressing and secretaries and sales people aren't very well paid, whereas a lot of men's work which involves no real education but a lot of manual work is very well paying (a janitor in the hospital is making 18$ an hour when a nurse starts at 22 after 4 years of school). Seems like a hangover from the "men need more money because they have to support a family" days.

Could the difference in nurses salaries be because there are more men on average in management positions?

nurs4kids · Nov 25, 2001

could very well be, tracy. Lower salaries, like most problems in nursing, are probably caused by SEVERAL different things.