Want to make a lot of money at your job? It’s no secret that it helps to be white, male and have at least a bachelor’s degree. But a new study suggests just how big an advantage that is.
The study by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University examines what a college degree is worth, and reiterates what many already know about the impact of higher education on lifetime earnings. But it also sheds new light on the disparity in earnings among different ethnicities and genders that hold the same degree.
What’s not surprising is that the higher the level of education, the greater the paycheck–MBAs and other graduate degrees fetch a premium in the job market over workers with bachelor’s degrees, and those with a bachelor’s out-earn those with a high school diploma. But here are some things that were surprising:
Not surprising: Women earn less than men.
Surprising: Over the course of a lifetime, a woman with a bachelor’s degree earns about the same as a man with some college education, about $1.9 million. A woman with a doctorate earns nearly $2.9 million, slightly more than a man…with a bachelor’s degree ($2.6 million).
Read the full article: Earnings Influenced by Race, Gender, Degree