Barbie and the Gender Wage Gap

Doctor, physicist, lawyer, diplomat, judge, writer, journalist, and president: Is there anything Barbie can’t do? Barbie typically finds herself in high-wage, prestigious, and male-dominated occupations. Yet while onscreen representation of women in high-profile occupations is an important cultural moment, Barbie’s impressive career path is not reflective of the typical experience of working women. New Center for American Progress analysis demonstrates that only 22 percent of Physicist Barbie’s fellow astronomers and physicists are women, and only 39 percent of Lawyer Barbie’s fellow lawyers are women—and while there’s been a President Barbie since 1992, the United States has never had a female president. Women are much more likely to hold low-wage occupations, contributing to the existence and persistence of the gender wage gap that harms women and their families. Even in Barbie’s high-profile careers, she is likely paid less than the Kens in her workplace.