<p>It matters. At least early on.</p>
<p>It is not exactly a surprise that one’s major can significantly impact one’s job prospects at graduation.</p>
<p>The next person who quotes that 82 cent “fact” should have their bachelor’s revoked.</p>
<p>What, the fact that women earn 82% of what men earn (on average)? Why?</p>
<p>I agree that this is not news.</p>
<p>Because it’s an average that lies - it’s comparing apples and oranges and is therefore meaningless. Would reporting the average salary of 20-29 year olds vs. that of 40-49 year olds tell you anything? I can see someone spinning it in such a way as to preach about income inequality, but it would be an invalid point - the two groups have different jobs, different levels of experience, different levels of education, etc. The same is true with men vs. women with average salary. The two groups don’t, on average, have the same jobs, the same level of experience, one group experiences child-rearing differently than the other, etc.</p>
<p>Compare men and women in the same job, at the same level of experience, and the pay difference generally disappears, or becomes less than 5%, which is almost in the noise level. But there’s no headline for NOW in that.</p>