J Am Dent Assoc. 2017 Apr;148(4):257-262.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.adaj.2017.01.005. Epub 2017 Feb 24.
The authors examined the factors associated with sex differences in earnings for 3 professional occupations.
The authors used a multivariate Blinder-Oaxaca method to decompose the differences in mean earnings across sex.
Although mean differences in earnings between men and women narrowed over time, there remained large, unaccountable earnings differences between men and women among all professions after multivariate adjustments. For dentists, the unexplained difference in earnings for women was approximately constant at 62% to 66%. For physicians, the unexplained difference in earnings for women ranged from 52% to 57%. For lawyers, the unexplained difference in earnings for women was the smallest of the 3 professions but also exhibited the most growth, increasing from 34% in 1990 to 45% in 2010.
The reduction in the earnings gap is driven largely by a general convergence between men and women in some, but not all, observable characteristics over time. Nevertheless, large unexplained gender gaps in earnings remain for all 3 professions.
Policy makers must use care in efforts to alleviate earnings differences for men and women because measures could make matters worse without a clear understanding of the nature of the factors driving the differences.
作者研究了与三种职业的性别收入差异相关的因素。
作者使用多元 Blinder-Oaxaca 方法来分解性别间平均收入差异。
尽管男性和女性之间的平均收入差异随着时间的推移逐渐缩小，但在经过多元调整后，所有职业的男性和女性之间仍存在巨大的、无法解释的收入差异。对于牙医来说，女性收入差异中无法解释的部分大约保持在 62%至 66%。对于医生来说，女性收入差异中无法解释的部分在 52%至 57%之间。对于律师来说，女性收入差异中无法解释的部分是三个职业中最小的，但也是增长最多的，从 1990 年的 34%增加到 2010 年的 45%。
收入差距的缩小主要是由于男性和女性在某些但不是所有可观察特征上随着时间的推移逐渐趋同所致。然而，所有三个职业的女性收入仍存在巨大的无法解释的性别差距。
政策制定者在努力缓解男性和女性之间的收入差异时必须谨慎，因为如果不明确了解导致差异的因素的性质，措施可能会使情况变得更糟。
