Pay Gap Basics
The term that describes the average difference in earnings between men and women.
What is the gender pay gap?
True or False: Women earn fewer computing degrees than men.
True.
Name one career field traditionally dominated by men.
Engineering, construction, finance, tech, aviation, etc.
Name a career mostly worked by women.
Nursing, teaching, HR, social work, etc.
True or False: Women now outnumber men in U.S. colleges.
True.
Women in the U.S. earn about THIS many cents per dollar compared to men.
What is 82 cents?
Name one STEM field where women are well-represented.
Biology, medicine, environmental science (accept any)
This field—software development—has roughly what percentage of women?
~20–25%.
What percentage of nurses are women?
About 85–90%.
Name one career where women are rapidly increasing representation.
Law, medicine, pharmacy, UX design, data analysis, etc.
True or False: The pay gap is only caused by unequal pay for the same job.
False
What stereotype claims boys are naturally better at math and science?
Gender stereotype / math stereotype.
What field includes jobs like electricians, plumbers, and welders?
Skilled trades.
This healthcare career—once male-dominated—is now majority women:
Veterinary medicine.
What term describes women entering historically male fields in larger numbers?
Breaking gender barriers / gender integration.
This term describes women being clustered in lower-paying fields.
What is occupational segregation.
What term describes the pressure minorities feel when stereotyped?
Stereotype threat.
Name the STEM field with the widest gender gap of all.
Computer science
This social-oriented field is 75%+ women and focuses on mental health.
Psychology / therapy.
In what decade did the gender pay gap start significantly shrinking in the U.S.?
The 1980s.
What is the name for invisible barriers preventing women from reaching top positions?
The glass ceiling.
Women make up about what percentage of the engineering workforce?
Around 15% (accept 13–16%)
In aerospace engineering, women make up roughly what percent?
10%
Elementary education teachers are what percentage women?
Around 85%.
What major STEM area shows the fastest growth of women entering in the last 5 years?
AI/ML, cybersecurity, data science.