A glance at the age structure of the research workforce group reveals that female workers outnumber male workers as a whole, as well as in every age category except the 25-34 and the 65 years and over age groups. Over 40 percent of the research workforce are between the ages of 35 and 54, with the average age for both male and female workers in South Dakota being 38. Increased education generally translates into increased earnings and smaller gender wage gaps. The wage gap for workers obtaining higher education and technical training is smaller than the gap for the workforce as a whole. For these workers, females earn approximately 83 percent as much as males, resulting in only a 17 percent wage gap.
Increased education has a more positive impact on earnings for females than males.
This is not always the case for males. The table below points out how wage differences vary in broad occupational categories, as well as the gender structure of each category. Although women earn less than men in every occupational category, the study reveals some positive results for females. A few specific female dominated occupations such as registered nurses, special education teachers, and secretaries show higher annual earnings for women than for men. The table demonstrates that the wage gap is smallest in the occupations that are dominated by females.