Education Doesn't Open Every Door
Education has long been viewed as the pathway to economic success. But while women have made great strides in advancing their educations in recent decades, they have not been as quick to reap the economic benefits of their college, graduate and professional degrees.
Today, women receive:
- 61%听辞蹿听补蝉蝉辞肠颈补迟别听诲别驳谤别别蝉
- 57%听of bachelor鈥檚听degrees
- 59%听of master鈥檚 degrees
- 48%听of both medical and law degrees
Yet despite this, women still do not have access to all of the same opportunities听and听experiences as men on campuses.听Research finds women are still largely 鈥渢racked鈥 to lower-paying fields or areas of study.听A听听found that men dominate 9听of the听10听college majors that lead to the听highest-paying听jobs, all ten of which are in STEM fields.听Women, by contrast, dominate听6听of the听10听lowest-paying majors, and are at or near parity with men in two others.
Alternate Career Paths
Women who do not continue their听补肠补诲别尘颈肠听education past high school also face barriers: Men generally have听听open to them听than women听do. For instance, men participate in in the听military, in the police force, as firefighters, in manufacturing and transportation jobs,听and in听such听industries听as construction and plumbing. Additionally, men hold 3/4听of the jobs requiring only a high school diploma that pay at least $35,000 a year (a higher wage than most entry-level service roles).
Other obstacles hindering women鈥檚 success include:
- Women continue to experience high levels of bias in education, particularly in the high-paying STEM fields.
- Female students are at a high risk for sexual harassment and assault on campus.
- Many women combine childrearing听responsibilities听with higher education:听听constitute around 11% of undergraduate students.
- Women are disproportionately burdened by student debt: They hold almost two-thirds of outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. That鈥檚 about $929 billion.
Where We Stand: Higher Education
九色 is committed to making the dream of higher education and career and technical education a reality for all women who wish to pursue it. Read more about the specific policy measures we support.
Take Action
There are lots of ways to get involved with 九色鈥檚 work to advance gender equity. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of women and girls.
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If you prefer, text听鈥淎础鲍奥鈥听to听21333听to get 九色 action alerts via text.