Sommers: Quick Fix for Gender Wage Gap

"If today’s young women want to close the wage gap, they should change their college majors," writes Christina Hoff Sommers at AEI-Ideas. Women earned 58% of college degrees this year, but too many of them are choosing majors that pay less. She explains:

Here is a list of the ten most remunerative majors compiled by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Note that men overwhelmingly outnumber women in all but one major.

1. Petroleum Engineering: 87% Male
2. Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration: 48% Male
3. Mathematics and Computer Science: 67% Male
4. Aerospace Engineering: 88% Male
5. Chemical Engineering: 72% Male
6. Electrical Engineering: 89% Male
7. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering: 97% Male
8. Mechanical Engineering: 90% Male
9. Metallurgical Engineering: 83% Male
10. Mining and Mineral Engineering: 90% Male

And here are the 10 least remunerative majors. This time it is women who prevail in nine out of ten majors.

1. Counseling Psychology: 74% Female
2. Early Childhood Education: 97% Female
3. Theology and Religious Vocations: 34% Female
4. Human Services and Community Organization: 81% Female
5. Social Work: 88% Female
6. Drama and Theater Arts: 60% Female
7. Studio Arts: 66% Female
8. Communication Disorders Sciences and Services: 94% Female
9. Visual and Performing Arts: 77% Female
10. Health and Medical Preparatory Programs: 55% Female

Sommers argues that the gender wage gap is a consequence of women's choices — "beginning with their college majors."

UPDATE: Ms. Sommers spoke at the Conservative Women's Network on May 31, 2013. You can watch the video here.