Chart of the Day: Male nurses outearn women by about 5K per year

The New York Times considers some of the factors that may explain this gap:

The study did not address reasons underpinning the persistent gap. There could be several reasons, Dr. Muench said: Men may be better negotiators, for instance, or perhaps women more often leave the work force to raise children. Women may have a tougher time getting promoted, she said.

“A workplace may offer a bit more to the men in order to diversify,” said Diana Mason, a professor of nursing at Hunter College of The City University of New York and former editor of The American Journal of Nursing.

Still, it is possible that women earn less because of a “lingering bias that a man is more of an expert because he’s a man,” she said.

Everyone seems pretty shocked at these findings, as if the fact that women still make up the majority of nurses automatically means they’ve got some advantage. But previous research has revealed that as men enter traditionally female-dominated professions, they tend to earn more and get promoted faster. Similar gender pay gaps have been shown among administrative assistants, teachers, and even babysitters.