We often hear that discriminatory practices are a reason why on average women are paid less than men. Expert say it’s hard to measure how much of a role that discrimination plays in the disparity.
“Research shows that more than half of the gap is due to job and industry segregation — essentially, women tend to work in jobs done primarily by other women, and men tend to work in jobs done primarily by other men and the ‘men’s jobs’ are paid more,” said Jennifer Clark, a spokeswoman for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
Clark cited education and race as other factors, too.
While career choices may be shaped to a certain extent by gender, “we do not know how much discriminatory ‘herding’ there is,” Gary Burtless, an economist with the Brookings Institution previously told us.
