Diverging work experience patterns drive a “work-experience pay gap” that makes up nearly 80 percent of the total gender pay gap, equal to 27 cents on the dollar among US professional workers. Women tend to build less human capital through work experience than men who start in the same occupations, as seen in the tens of thousands of career trajectories we analyze. Over a 30-year career, the gender pay gap averages out to approximately half a million dollars in lost earnings per woman. One-third of that work-experience pay gap is because women accumulate less time on the job than men. Women average 8.6 years at work for every ten years clocked by men because, on aggregate, they work fewer hours, take longer breaks between jobs, and occupy more part-time roles than men. The other two-thirds arise from different career pathways that men and women pursue over time. Women’s careers are as dynamic as men’s: Both men and women averaged 2.6 role moves per decade of work and traversed comparable skill distances in each new role. However, women are more likely than men to switch to lower-paying occupations, typically ones involving less competitive pressures and fewer full-time requirements.
