The gender wage gap in the United States seems to be increasing while the wage gap in Wyoming remains fairly steady.
With the largest gender wage gap in the United States, Wyoming women still earn about 30 percent less than men, making about 63 cents to every dollar that a man makes, according to the Wyoming Women’s Foundation.
However, Wyoming is not just to blame as it is only one part of a nation that is slipping when it comes to gender equality.
In the United States as a whole, women typically only make about 70 cents to every dollar that a man makes, according to Forbes. In 2012, the United States did not even make the list of “Top 20 Countries for Women,” according to the World Economic Forum.
“The U.S. has dropped,” Saadia Zahidia, author of the Global Gender Index Gap, said. “But because the countries at the top are really bunched together, very small deteriorations can affect rankings.”
Even U.S. cities with smaller wage gaps are still slipping. Forbes lists Riverside, Calif. as the city as one of the smallest wage gaps, but still has about an 18 percent gap.
Although the United States and Wyoming are still falling behind in the gender gap, one area where the gender gap seems to be improving is the University of Wyoming for many faculty members.
In some cases, women faculty members make more than their male counterparts when doing the same job. In one case in the Molecular Biology Department, a female professor makes about $40,000 more than a male professor in the same department, though they do both have the same titles.
The same goes for two professors of law, as one female professor’s salary was about $22,000 more than that of a male professor, according to the list of University of Wyoming Salaried Employees for 2012-2013.
However, in some instances, those females who made more had a few more qualifications. For example, in the case of the two law professors, the female has a Master’s degree in addition to her Juris Doctorate degree, while her male counterpart did not.
However, for those women who do not hold faculty positions, but rather regular staff positions this was not the case with some making less than $20,000. Although qualifications and part-time and full-time status were not taken into account for these salary differences.
Even with what seems like an improving situation at UW, it is difficult to say if that will make a drastic difference statewide.
