In the majority of occupations with the widest wage gap in 1980, except for precision metal workers, the wage gap narrowed over the decade by more than the average eight cents on the dollar. Despite greater female participation, the gap narrowed only slightly in executive, administrative, and managerial occupations. The greatest gains for women came in freight, stock and material handling occupations, health diagnosing occupations, and for print machine operators. Increased occupational representation of women over the decade did not consistently result in appreciable narrowing of the wage gap. The earnings of females are approximately 11 to 41 percent lower than males in the ten highest paying occupations.
Females are significantly under represented in the ten highest paying occupations. . .
A combination of corporate initiatives, government action and access to education and training is needed to close the wage gap. A strong commitment to equal opportunity, affirmative action and the eradication of sex-based wage discrimination are crucial in each of these sectors. In the corporate sector, stepped-up efforts to establish policies that promote equal opportunity in recruitment, training, hiring, promotion, and pay are critical to closing the wage gap. The federal government's commitment to ending employment discrimination must be strengthened. Federal agencies charged with combating discrimination and implementing affirmative action must pursue and be held accountable for vigorous enforcement of equal opportunity laws and regulations.