If two people, one male and one female, are doing the same job in the state of Louisiana chances are the lady is making only two-thirds of what the man is earning. Is that fair? Not hardly, is it reality? It sure is. A recent survey showed that our state led the nation in unequal pay based on gender.

Before you think that our state is a total collection of male chauvinist pigs you need to understand a couple of the issues involved in this major gender gap in wages. Most of the higher paying jobs in the state are in the oil and gas industry. Those jobs just happen to be dominated by men. It's not that women can't do those jobs, it's just that most of the positions are filled by men.

"You just have the number of men out there are occupying the positions that pay better,"

Those were the remarks of Tulane Business Professor Mark Rosa,  interpreted  these findings. Dr. Rosa was quoted by a report from the Louisiana Radio Network. The information in the report was based on recently released census data.

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