Equality Exists: Pharmacist the Most 'Equal Pay' Job for Men & Women

Industry offers more flexible hours, too

Pharmacist is the most equal of all U.S. professions. The six-figure salary is nearly exactly the same for men and women with full-time female pharmacists earning a median salary of $111,000 in 2011, about 92 cents to the dollar of their male counterparts. The small pay gap is mostly due to men working longer hours, however, not discrimination. "Women with children earn less largely because they work fewer hours," said Harvard economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz. In fact, it's the industry's flexibility that is likely one of its greatest attractions as the rise of drug store chains (Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid) allows for better work schedules to be offered than when pharmacists had to worry about the long hours of owning a small business. Additionally, the pharmacy degree is now a six-year professional doctorate program that students can enter straight out of high school. (CNN)

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