Degrees Don’t Close the Divide: Black Women’s Educational Attainment Doesn’t Translate to Equal Earnings

Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, recognized this year on July 21, is an opportunity to call attention to the structural barriers Black women encounter in the workforce that have long-term impacts on their economic security. IWPR’s most recent analysis of annual data finds that Black women working full-time year-round (FTYR) earn less than 65 cents for every dollar earned by White men.¹ The gap widens when all workers (full-time, part-time, and part-year workers) are included, with Black women earning just under 63 cents for every dollar earned by their White male counterparts.²

From 2020 to 2024, across all levels of education, Black women working FTYR earned 63.2 cents for every one dollar earned by White men (Table 1). Among all workers employed at any point in the year, Black women earned 60.5 cents for every one dollar earned by White men. This inequality is compounded throughout their lives, leading to long-lasting student debt,³ health insurance and caregiving gaps,⁴ housing instability,⁵ and emotional distress.⁶

Amidst an uncertain economic outlook of increasing inflation⁷ and the slowing pace of job growth,⁸ many Black women are told they must pursue the highest level of educational attainment to increase their earnings, combat the wage gap, and improve their quality of life. Despite systemic barriers and inequities that make degree attainment difficult, Black women are earning degrees at higher levels than ever before (Figure 1).⁹ And yet, regardless of educational attainment, the earnings gap between Black women and White men persists year after year.

IWPR’s analysis of American Community Survey data reveals the reality of the labor market for Black women in the United States: Earning more degrees does not lead to receiving the pay they deserve, or the pay of their White male colleagues with the same levels of educational attainment. Among FTYR workers with a bachelor’s degree, Black women earn a median annual salary of $61,404, while White men with a bachelor’s degree earn a median annual salary of $98,409 (an earnings ratio of 62.4 percent). Among high school diplomas/GED holders—the most common level of educational attainment—White men earn a median annual income of $57,928, while Black women earn a median annual income of $37,514 (an earnings ratio of 64.8 percent; see Table 1 and Figure 2). It takes Black women earning a bachelor’s degree before they make more than White men whose highest level of education is a high school diploma/GED.

With each successive level of education, from some high school, no diploma to a master’s degree, Black women’s earnings increase by an average of 23.5 percent, slightly higher than White men’s 20.5 percent increase. However, because Black women start off with disproportionately low earnings at initial educational levels (a $16,710 earnings gap for FTYR workers at some high school, no diploma; see Table 1), the earnings gap between Black women and White men persists across all levels of education.

Black women with professional degrees had the largest gap in earnings among all other levels of education, despite these being one of the highest degrees to attain (Figure 3). As a result, Black women earn about the same whether they have either a professional degree or a doctorate (median annual earnings of $97,538 and $99,000, respectively), but White men with a professional degree earn about $34,000 more per year than White men with a doctorate.

Regardless of degree level or FTYR work, data analysis reveals that Black women earn less than White men with the same degree attainment. Black women who work outside of FTYR roles face a similarly large earning gap compared to White men (Figure 3). While obtaining advanced degrees may increase one’s individual earnings through accessibility to higher-paying jobs, the recurring earnings gap between Black women and White men suggests that lifelong systemic inequities perpetuate Black women’s lower pay in the labor market. Compared to White men, Black women encounter more barriers to acquiring wealth throughout their lives, both in degree attainment and in career progression.¹⁰ Not only do Black women face discrimination based on their gender and race, otherwise known as the “double bind,”¹¹ they also take on larger amounts of student debt and face large, structurally embedded racial wealth gaps. While educational attainment may close the skills gap, it doesn’t close the wage gap.

Closing the wage gap for Black women will require more than individual degree completion and Black women’s educational attainment—it demands strong protection and enforcement of antidiscrimination and unfair workplace policies, and a commitment to addressing the systemic causes of the racial and gender wage gaps.

To learn more about IWPR’s federal policy recommendations on Equal Pay and Better Workplaces, go to iwpr.org/federalpolicyagenda/. For additional information on state policy solutions, visit statepolicyactionlab.org/.

This Quick Figure was prepared by Comfort Sampong and Miranda Peterson. Thank you to our key funders for their generous support of IWPR’s core research and flagship products.