Men working in Silicon Valley with a graduate or professional degree earn 73 percent more than women in the industry with the same degrees, according to an analysis of Census Data from the 2014 Silicon Valley Index.
Men who hold Bachelor’s Degrees make 40 percent more than women with the same educational level. In fact, they make more than women at every level of educational attainment except for high school graduates, where women earn 1 percent more than men.
The good news is that the 73 percent figure represents a reduction, as men with these degrees made 97 percent more than women in 2010, “meaning that men with graduate or professional degrees in Silicon Valley were earning nearly twice that of their female peers,” the report notes.
While the figures in the country’s supposed “meritocracy” are striking, the trend holds true for women in all industries. Not only do women who work full-time, year-round earn 77 cents, on average, for every dollar a man earns, but becoming better educated doesn’t erase that gap. Men make more at every level of educational achievement than women with the same credentials. In fact, the gap widens the more education they take on, with men who hold advanced degrees making $1,667 more a month, on average, than women with the same degrees. And the gap starts out early, as women fresh out of college with similar majors, grades, and other experiences make 7 percent less than their male peers.
There are also stark gaps in income between white workers in Silicon Valley and people of color. “The lowest-earning racial/ethnic group earns 70 percent less than the highest earning group,” or in other words, white workers, the report says. Worse, while incomes increased for white and Asian workers between 2010 and 2012, it fell for black and Hispanic people, although those trends mirror statewide ones.
The income gap between white people and those of color exists outside of the Bay Area. Black and Hispanic men make 73 percent and 61 percent of what white men make, respectively. Women of color make less: black women earn 63 percent of what white men make and Hispanic women earn 54 percent.