Effect of Gender on the Earnings of Humanities Majors
- In 2018, the median income for female humanities terminal bachelor’s degree holders (TBHs) was $44K among younger workers (ages 23–32), which was $4K less than the median for their male counterparts (Indicator III-09a).2 This amounted to a gender earnings gap of 8%.1 The gap was considerably wider among older TBHs (ages 48–59). Women made $18K less than men in this age category, for a gap of 22%.
- Among humanities majors early in their careers (ages 25–35) who earned an advanced degree, the gap in median earnings between men and women was $3K, for a gender gap of 5% (Indicator III-09b).2 Among older workers (ages 49–60), the gap was substantially larger: women’s median earnings were $20K lower than those of men, for a gender gap of 20%.
- The earnings gap between male and female humanities majors with advanced degrees was more pronounced among the highest wage earners in this category than for workers earning closer to the median. The disparity was particularly great for younger workers. While the gender earnings gap among median earners was 5%, the gap among those earning at the 75th percentile was 20%.
Endnotes
- 2All earnings estimates presented here are for full-time/full-year workers and for the 12 months preceding response to the ACS. The estimates have been rounded to the nearest $1,000.
The range of “typical” or “usual” values exhibited by a population of persons or objects is described through the use of a statistic referred to as the “interquartile range,” which ignores the most extreme values of a sample distribution. Quartiles are statistics that divide the observations of a numeric sample into four groups, each of which contains 25% of the data. The lower, middle, and upper quartiles are computed by ordering the values for a particular variable (earnings, in this case) from smallest to largest and then finding the values below which fall 25%, 50%, and 75% of the data. The middle quartile is also known as the median. The lower quartile and the upper quartile define the interquartile range.
When it comes to the analysis of the earnings of humanities majors and how they compare to majors in other fields, the HI always reports the median rather than the mean (“average”). This is necessary due to the highly skewed nature of the U.S. earnings distribution, meaning that there is a small share of the US population that earns considerably more than the vast majority of Americans. The mean is very sensitive to such extreme values. The median is far less so and is thus a better measure of “typical” earnings.
The age ranges selected for the two types of degree holder with which these indicators deal—those with a terminal bachelor’s degree and those who went on to earn an advanced degree—reflect the additional time required to pursue an advanced degree, the age at which earnings peak for each group, and the need for enough survey responses to ensure the reliability of the earnings estimates. - 2In 2018, 41% of humanities majors possessed at least one advanced degree (see the supplemental table ).
- 1In keeping with the practice of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the gender earnings gap was calculated by dividing the difference between men’s and women’s median earnings by men’s median earnings.
III-09a: Median Annual Earnings of Full-Time Workers with a Terminal Bachelor’s Degree in the Humanities, by Gender and Age, 2018*
* Full-time workers are those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks in the previous 12 months.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Indicators ().
The information presented here is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators (HI) of data from the (ACS), which has been administered on an annual basis by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions of dollars in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
For the purposes of ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau defines earnings as “the sum of wage or salary income and net income from self-employment. ‘Earnings’ represent the amount of income received regularly for people 16 years old and over before deductions for personal income taxes, Social Security, bond purchases, union dues, Medicare deductions, etc. An individual with earnings is one who has either wage/salary income or self-employment income, or both. Respondents who ‘break even’ in self-employment income and therefore have zero self-employment earnings also are considered ‘individuals with earnings’” (from ACS documentation provided at , p. 83).
A full-time worker is defined as an individual who has worked at least 35 hours per week for 50 or more weeks, including paid vacation, in the preceding 12 months. All earnings estimates are for the 12 months preceding response to the ACS and have been rounded to the nearest $1K.
This indicator features estimates of the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile annual earnings for humanities majors. The 25th and 75th percentiles are known as the lower and upper quartiles. Quartiles are statistics that divide the observations of a numeric sample into four groups, each of which contains 25% of the data. The lower, middle, and upper quartiles are computed by ordering the values for a particular variable from smallest to largest and then finding the values below which fall 25%, 50%, and 75% of the data. The lower quartile and the upper quartile are the two values that define the interquartile range (the middle quartile is also known as the median). The interquartile range, which excludes the most extreme values of a data distribution, is used to describe the range of “typical” or “usual” values exhibited by a set of persons or objects.
When it comes to the analysis of the earnings of humanities majors and how they compare to majors in other fields, the HI always reports the median rather than the mean (“average”). This is necessary due to the highly skewed nature of the U.S. earnings distribution, meaning that there is a small share of the US population that earns considerably more than the vast majority of Americans. The mean is very sensitive to such extreme values. The median is far less so and is thus a better measure of “typical” earnings.
The ACS permits respondents to specify up to two fields of bachelor’s degree. For the purposes of this analysis, an individual was counted as having a bachelor’s degree in the humanities if the field of either reported degree was within the scope of the humanities as specified by the HI. Information regarding the specific disciplines treated as within the humanities for the purposes of this analysis is provided in the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
The ACS does not ask respondents about their amount of work experience, and thus the HI uses age to distinguish between workers who are in the first years of their career and those who are more experienced. Age and work experience are not perfectly correlated, but age does provide an approximate measure of work experience that allows the HI to examine the effect of this experience on unemployment and earnings of humanities majors.
The age ranges selected for the two types of degree holder with which these indicators deal—those with a terminal bachelor’s degree and those who went on to earn an advanced degree—reflect the additional time required to pursue an advanced degree, the age at which earnings peak for each group, and the need for enough survey responses to ensure the reliability of the earnings estimates.
III-09b: Median Annual Earnings of Full-Time Workers with a Bachelor’s Degree in the Humanities and an Advanced Degree in Any Field, by Gender and Age, 2018*
* Full-time workers are those who worked 35 or more hours per week for 50 or more weeks in the previous 12 months.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Ƶ of Arts and Sciences’ Indicators ().
The information presented here is based on an original analysis by the Humanities Indicators (HI) of data from the (ACS), which has been administered on an annual basis by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2005. The ACS replaced the “long form” version of the decennial census and collects information—used to allocate billions of dollars in state and federal funding—about Americans’ personal characteristics, family composition, employment, income, and housing.
For the purposes of ACS, the U.S. Census Bureau defines earnings as “the sum of wage or salary income and net income from self-employment. ‘Earnings’ represent the amount of income received regularly for people 16 years old and over before deductions for personal income taxes, Social Security, bond purchases, union dues, Medicare deductions, etc. An individual with earnings is one who has either wage/salary income or self-employment income, or both. Respondents who ‘break even’ in self-employment income and therefore have zero self-employment earnings also are considered ‘individuals with earnings’” (from ACS documentation provided at , p. 83).
A full-time worker is defined as an individual who has worked at least 35 hours per week for 50 or more weeks, including paid vacation, in the preceding 12 months. All earnings estimates are for the 12 months preceding response to the ACS and have been rounded to the nearest $1K.
This indicator features estimates of the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile annual earnings for humanities majors. The 25th and 75th percentiles are known as the lower and upper quartiles. Quartiles are statistics that divide the observations of a numeric sample into four groups, each of which contains 25% of the data. The lower, middle, and upper quartiles are computed by ordering the values for a particular variable from smallest to largest and then finding the values below which fall 25%, 50%, and 75% of the data. The lower quartile and the upper quartile are the two values that define the interquartile range (the middle quartile is also known as the median). The interquartile range, which excludes the most extreme values of a data distribution, is used to describe the range of “typical” or “usual” values exhibited by a set of persons or objects.
When it comes to the analysis of the earnings of humanities majors and how they compare to majors in other fields, the HI always reports the median rather than the mean (“average”). This is necessary due to the highly skewed nature of the U.S. earnings distribution, meaning that there is a small share of the US population that earns considerably more than the vast majority of Americans. The mean is very sensitive to such extreme values. The median is far less so and is thus a better measure of “typical” earnings.
The ACS permits respondents to specify up to two fields of bachelor’s degree. For the purposes of this analysis, an individual was counted as having a bachelor’s degree in the humanities if the field of either reported degree was within the scope of the humanities as specified by the HI. Information regarding the specific disciplines treated as within the humanities for the purposes of this analysis is provided in the ACS-HI Crosswalk.
The ACS does not ask respondents about their amount of work experience, and thus the HI uses age to distinguish between workers who are in the first years of their career and those who are more experienced. Age and work experience are not perfectly correlated, but age does provide an approximate measure of work experience that allows the HI to examine the effect of this experience on unemployment and earnings of humanities majors.
The age ranges selected for the two types of degree holder with which these indicators deal—those with a terminal bachelor’s degree and those who went on to earn an advanced degree—reflect the additional time required to pursue an advanced degree, the age at which earnings peak for each group, and the need for enough survey responses to ensure the reliability of the earnings estimates.
