Time in The Trenches Adds Up For Female Engineers

December 28, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Professional women with more than two decades of experience in electro-technology and information-technology industries have higher median incomes than their male counterparts, a survey finds.

The survey by IEEE-USA, a unit of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers revealed that:

  • women with 20 to 24 years experience earned $100,037 per year from primary sources,
  • while men made $98,500, and
  • women with 25 to 29 years experience received $107,000,
  • while their male counterparts received $99,600

However, the group?s Salary & Fringe Benefit Survey of over 9,500 respondents also shows that at lower experience levels men earned more than women:

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  • men with 5 to 6 years have a median income of $76,000,
  • compared to $68,000 for women, and
  • men received $96,000 at 15 to 19 years,
  • while women earned $84,700

On the whole, a regression analysis shows that female US IEEE members are paid 7.3% less than men.

Analysis of survey data reveals a median primary income, which includes base salary, bonuses, commissions and self-employment income, of $93,100 for all US IEEE members in 2000 ? with women accounting for 6% of members.

Among ethnic groups,

  • Asian American IEEE members had the highest median primary income at a $99,000,
  • non-Hispanic whites were at $93,000,
  • while those from “other” had medians of $92,100, and
  • Hispanic members reported a median of $86,500, and
  • non-Hispanic African Americans made $86,340

An online salary calculator, based one the survey is available at http://www.ieeeusa.org/catalog/01salary.html

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