Gender Wage Gap Trends Among Information Science Workers*

Objective We test whether increasing gender earning differences are associated with the surprising decline in the share of women working in information science (IS). Methods We use representative data to estimate the gender earnings differential from 1995 to 2015 for full‐time, private‐sector IS workers in the United States. We decompose the differential within and across years. Time trends isolate the pattern of the unexplained gender differential. Results None of our decompositions or projections reveal increased gender earnings differentials over the sample period. If anything, the unexplained differentials modestly decline. Conclusion Despite contentions that the financial treatment of women explains their departure from IS and engineering, we find no evidence of a trend toward larger earnings differentials. Thus, our data argue that the declining share of women in IS likely has its roots elsewhere.