The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the US over the past 15 years or so. In 2020, women earned 84% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers.
Even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations relative to their share of the workforce. The ongoing wage discrepancy is caused by many factors including gender discrimination, motherhood, and taking more time off work compared to men.
But despite that, some women have managed to settle into low-stress and well-paid jobs and are pretty happy with their careers. So today we are taking a look at their ‘career secrets’ as shared in response to the “Women with low stress and good paying jobs, what is it that you do?” thread from the Ask Women subreddit. Below we wrapped up the most interesting responses, so scroll down and share your thoughts in the comments.
Also, scroll down to Bored Panda’s interview with Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist, spokesperson and award-winning book author who claims that we need to recognize that this is not “a case of ‘everyone has an equal opportunity.’ We have to see, truly, fully, and humbly, that our starting point is different and as such a meritocracy, while good in theory, faces huge obstacles in practice that many are not willing to acknowledge,” she argues.
#21
Mental health therapist! It pays well, I get to have meaningful conversations with people all day, and I get to choose my own hours.
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26points
#22
Narrative Designer in video games! Though there are a few caveats:
1) the stress is low because I work for a company that does not believe in crunch, which is still relatively rare in the industry. Being a woman also adds a certain stress that can be better or worse depending on the company and team you work with. It’s always sort of a cloud above your head, so to speak, but I’ve got a pretty good team so I’m one of the lucky ones in this case!
2) I only get paid decently because I job hopped a little bit and upped my salary each time before settling in where I am now - it is generally considered the only way to increase your salary in this industry at the moment. The upside is it is sort of expected of people to bounce around companies a little bit, so it isn’t necessarily considered a black mark on your C.V. or anything.
1) the stress is low because I work for a company that does not believe in crunch, which is still relatively rare in the industry. Being a woman also adds a certain stress that can be better or worse depending on the company and team you work with. It’s always sort of a cloud above your head, so to speak, but I’ve got a pretty good team so I’m one of the lucky ones in this case!
2) I only get paid decently because I job hopped a little bit and upped my salary each time before settling in where I am now - it is generally considered the only way to increase your salary in this industry at the moment. The upside is it is sort of expected of people to bounce around companies a little bit, so it isn’t necessarily considered a black mark on your C.V. or anything.
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25points
The award-winning book author believes that this sort of behavior cannot help but contaminate others who experience it, “including women who may wish to speak up but feel they cannot.”
Last but not least, Tang reminds us that we must also remember that “ethnicity can add another barrier for women in the workplace as that can bring its own biases as well as its own uneven playing field. And you sometimes get 'lip service' being paid, i.e. women and ethnic minorities are on our board... but are they actually LISTENED TO!?”
#23
Piano teacher. I'm trying to break the stereotype of piano teachers being old church ladies who teach half heartedly in their spare time. I put effort and truly care about every single student
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25points
#24
Airline pilot. My job can definitely be stressful, like a few hours of no stress at all and then one little thing gets messed up and you're scrambling. For the most part it's fairly relaxed but it has its moments.
But really my low stress comes from my schedule. We're supposed to work about 80 hours a month, and those hours are doors closed to doors open, so basically our "work" hours are just the time spent moving passengers, not the hour and a half at least that it takes to get through security, get to the gate, wait for the plane, and do the whole preflight routine, or the time spent after you land. But all that being said if you're just working shifts where you do two 4 hour legs in a day then you're working 10 days a month.
I'm in the middle of two weeks off right now, not vacation time, just two weeks off because I got all my credit hours at the start and the end of the month.
So yeah, life's pretty relaxed. I get paid well, I have a mostly fun job, and I get plenty of down time. If you can get through the couple of years of training and then all the time building hours working shitty jobs for low pay (I did 4 years of flying cargo in shitty turboprops, and I definitely had an easier go of things than most of the people I went through training with), life really is great once you get to the airlines.
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24points
#25
Business intelligence analyst. I really only work about 10 hours a week. The other 30 I spend scrolling Reddit waiting for a ticket to come in.
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24points
#26
I’m an accountant at a biotech startup! I have a lot of responsibility, but I know I’m capable so it doesn’t particularly stress me out. I have a masters degree and about 4 years experience now, making $116k USD
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22points
#27
Quality Designer at a video game studio that is anti-crunch.
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22points
#28
Freelance graphic artist and interface design.
I make $50/hr, flexible hours, make my own schedule, I’m also a mom and regularly take as much sick / caregiver time off as I want with no repercussions. Canada. I have a husband who also works (more hours than I do, he is primary breadwinner as I’ve worked part time since having kiddo— we have a 2 acre hobby farm that takes up the rest of my/our time). My retired mom watches kiddo when I’m working if she’s not in school or with her dad.
I make $50/hr, flexible hours, make my own schedule, I’m also a mom and regularly take as much sick / caregiver time off as I want with no repercussions. Canada. I have a husband who also works (more hours than I do, he is primary breadwinner as I’ve worked part time since having kiddo— we have a 2 acre hobby farm that takes up the rest of my/our time). My retired mom watches kiddo when I’m working if she’s not in school or with her dad.
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22points
#30
I'm a health tech on a psych ward. I get paid pretty decent for the little work that I actually do.
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17points