Female students, take note: According to a recent workforce analysis focused on the R2 institutions producing the highest-earning female alumni under 40 in the United States, The University of Akron made the list of top universities in the Midwest.
Universities classified as "R2” have doctoral programs and high research activity.
The study, published by Steppingblocks, ranked UA 12th in the Midwest for female alumni under 40 who earn more than $100K annually—with an average of salary of $129,167.
Top employers for this group of UA alum include Cleveland Clinic, Akron Children's Hospital and Gojo Industries, while top majors are Nursing, Law and Accounting.
In "The State of the Gender Pay Gap in 2021," PayScale reported that the pay gap widens as women progress in their careers. In an uncontrolled group of executives, women made $0.70 to every dollar made by men.
PayScale attributed this, in part, to the opportunity gap, explained as the tendency for women to climb the corporate ladder more slowly than men. In theory, if women accelerate their pace of upward mobility, they'll decrease their deficit in potential lifetime earnings.
So, according to Steppingblocks, universities producing high-earning female alumni under 40 are working toward better outcomes for their students, recent grads and alumni.
The company wanted to learn who is making the biggest strides in gender and pay. For this analysis, Steppingblocks used demographic, education and employment filters to generate a list of R2 universities producing the most high-earning females under 40.
The company was founded to produce skilled, confident, workforce-ready graduates, in addition to augmenting institutional success through data-driven tools.
Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or cboyd@uakron.edu