Tips for Women Who Want to Earn More Money

Women currently earn only 80 cents for every dollar men earn. After several years of research, Dr. Warren Farrell has determined that part of the reason for this disparity is that women often choose the wrong careers. In his controversial new book WHY MEN EARN MORE: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap—and What Women Can Do About It (AMACOM Books, 2005), he offers the following advice for women who want to earn more:

1. Concentrate on career options in the hard sciences, not the social sciences. Engineers and computer scientists get paid more than teachers, journalists and social workers. Female engineering managers earn an average annual salary of $83,000, but only 10% of professionals in the field are women.

2. Get hazard pay without the hazards. Women in the military have an 8-to-1-safety ratio over men (e.g., not a single woman has died in the Marines or Air Force in the war in Iraq). Women cab drivers routinely work safer shifts (and sometimes areas) than their male counterparts, and get higher tips, in spite of not necessarily helping with the baggage. And for a woman unwilling to take any physical risk, there's the lucrative option of starting up a construction company. Thanks to laws governing federal contracts, she'll have government agencies, universities and other organizations competing for her business.

3. Choose fields with higher financial and emotional risks. Male doctors and lawyers earn more than females in part because they are more likely to be in private practice. Risk is a huge reason venture capitalists earn between $100,000 and $300,000 a year—substantially more than supermarket cashiers who receive a regular paycheck and “check out” at the end of the day. About 91% of venture capitalists are men.

4. Put in the hours. People who work just ten hours more per week earn almost twice the pay. Dr. Farrell explains why this happens, and how to take advantage of it if you have a family (while still giving your children even more one-on-one time with mom or dad).

5. Know the Fields that Pay Women More than Men. Dr. Farrell identifies thirty-nine large fields that pay women at least 5% more than men. Sales engineers, engineering managers, aerospace engineers and financial analysts top the list. Female statisticians earn a third more than the men and female speech-language pathologists make 29% more.

6. Understand the Trends Reshaping the Workplace. Pharmacists now earn more than physicians. Technology is now transforming many male-dominated fields into female-friendly fields (e.g., manufacturing and steelwork). Why? Muscle and heavy lifting are being replaced by microchip and mind. Dr. Farrell presents 25 of the fastest growing careers for the next seven years, including medical assistant, network systems and data communications analysts and social and human service assistants.

7. Being Upwardly Mobile Means Being Vertically Mobile. Women account for half of today's professionals but only 18% of all employees transferred abroad, and only a similar percentage of frequent fliers. But women who move up are willing to both travel on the job and relocate, especially overseas. Dr. Farrell explains how to do this without neglecting the children.

8. Switch to a higher-paying subfield. The same 25 ways to higher pay in any given field also lead to higher pay in a subfield. For example, a nurse who wishes to become a nurse anesthetist can make twice the pay of a general nurse; one who wishes to travel can earn much better income as a traveling nurse.

Adapted from WHY MEN EARN MORE: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap—and What Women Can Do About It by Warren Farrell, Ph.D. (AMACOM Books; January 2005).

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