Gender Pay Gap: 10 High Paying Jobs for Women

Have you ever wondered why there’s a gender pay gap  between men  and women? “Why do women make less money than men?” is a surprisingly common career question. Even more surprising: according to bestselling author and gender issues expert, Dr. Warren Farrell, in some fields women are now bringing home bigger paychecks than men.

If you think men always earn more than women, you’re wrong.

That’s according to a book by Farrell titled Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap—and What Women Can Do About It, which says women in certain fields earn more than men. According to Farrell’s website, the book shows how the gender pay gap is not about gender discrimination in the workplace, but about “25 differences between men and women’s work-life decisions.” Not only does Farrell’s book discuss the issues of equal pay for women, but it also strives to help women achieve higher pay and understand the tradeoffs involved—and whether they’re worth it.

Based on median salary numbers from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the book identifies a number of high paying jobs for women,, explaining, “when women’s pay is significantly greater than men’s, it can be in male-dominated fields, female-dominated fields, or well-integrated fields.” Some positions where women tend to earn more than men include sales engineers, automotive technicians and mechanics, financial analysts, human resources assistants, and advertising and promotions managers.

Farrell says there are various reasons why these are becoming high paying jobs for women.

Sales Engineers
As sales engineers, women cross the gender pay gap, with a median pay of $89,908, while men earn $62,660. Female sales engineers often have more access, particularly if buyers are men, because “the average man would rather be sold to by a woman than by a man,” Farrell explains. Women also tend to outpace men verbally, and they’re usually very good with details and following up, he notes, which enhances their performance.

Mechanics and Automotive Technicians
There aren’t a lot of women auto mechanics, and although you might assume that would widen the gender pay gap in favor of men, it’s actually the contrary. Beings, there are so few women automotive technicians, those who are can be considered as “pioneers,” Farrell says. He says “whenever people break traditional roles, the people who do the role-breaking tend to be highly motivated and good … They make more because they are so good, and because people like going to a woman because it’s a novelty.” In these positions, the gender pay gap folds in women’s favor, with the median pay of $40,664; the median for men is $31,460.

Financial Analysts
Female financial analysts also buck the gender pay gap, earning a median pay of $69,004 while men are at $58,604. Women tend to excel whenever a field such as this requires technical skills plus the ability to communicate and pay attention to details, Farrell explains.

“Add to this the fact that top-level executive males would prefer to be presented to by a woman than by a man … and also that female financial analysts are in shorter supply … and you have a blend of characteristics that are likely to make a female financial analyst, on average, more valued,” he says.

Overall, Why Do Women Make Less Money Than Men?

Farrell’s book also examines the question “why do women earn less money than men.” He looks at the gender pay gap on a broad scale, and tries to explain the causes of wage gap between men and women. He suggests men are more likely to make sacrifices leading to increased earnings. Women interested in squashing the gender pay gap and boosting their income might consider some of these sacrifices, he says.

“Put in the hours. People who work 44 hours per week make twice as much as those working 34 hours. That’s 33 percent more work for 100 percent more pay, which makes it cost-efficient to hire out cleaning, errands, etc.,” Farrell explains on his website.

Among the big differences between women’s and men’s work choices, he says, are that “women as a rule don’t work as many hours because their obligations tend to be more divided. They like to fulfill their home obligations. And second, they tend to work less in the evenings and on weekends, and tend to move less for jobs.”

Other ways to hop the gender pay gap? Pick fields in technology or the hard sciences, relocate and/or travel for the job, and commute to jobs further away from home.

10 Careers Where Women Earn More Than Men*

*From Why Men Earn More: An excerpt of Table 4, pgs. 12-13, titled “39 Fields in Which Women Earn at Least 5% More Than Men.” The data is based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.