Other fast-growing and high-paying jobs haven't always been stereotypically associated with a mostly women workforce, and they will see high demand for the foreseeable future as women now make up most workers.

Women in veterinary science, financial management, and operations research analyst positions have been growing as a portion of the workforce thanks to a generation of trailblazing women who embraced STEM careers, which have historically been male-dominated. Financial institutions have been compelled to diversify their workforces in recent years based, in part, on evidence that firms with women leaders see better returns than those led by men.

Still, gender differences in pay remain a reality—even in some of the highest-paying and fastest-growing occupations. Even women with advanced certificates and college degrees earn 71 cents for every dollar a man with the same education earns, according to a recent Census Bureau analysis of college records and earnings from 2005 to 2019.

Despite progress toward equitable representation in mostly nonmanagerial roles, women still lag behind men in representation and pay in the finance industry overall. The same is true for several of the top 10 fastest-growing occupations dominated by women.

Even among nurse practitioners, where women comprise 9 in 10 workers, they still earn about 2% less than men. For women working in medical and health services management roles, the earning gap is 6% less than for men. Women physician assistants—a group projected to grow 29% by 2033—earn 8% less than their male counterparts on average.

However, there is reason to believe that the wage gap could continue to narrow. As more women enter and participate in the workforce, the difference in pay between genders tends to shrink, a trend that's played out globally in recent decades, according to Goldman Sachs Research.

Story editing by Alizah Salario. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.