By Vanessa Hua
Half the gender wage gap is due to women working in different kinds of occupations than men, and a new initiative by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research addresses these discrepancies in an effort to lift women out of poverty and reduce income inequality. The initiative encourages women with relevant skills to get training and certification for “middle-skill,” higher-paying jobs in advanced manufacturing, information technology, transportation, and logistics. A library assistant, for example — with her skills in working in a database, coding information, and interacting with others — could become a computer support-staff worker. At present, women hold just 11 percent of these more lucrative, middle-skill jobs.
