MONTREAL, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. women earn substantially more money and narrow the gender gap in income when other women in their workplaces are in senior management, a study found.
The study also found that increasing the numbers of women in junior management positions has no effect on the gender pay gap, with women continuing to earn about 20 percent less than men, the Washington Post reported.
The study -- presented Friday in Montreal at the 101st meeting of the American Sociological Association -- found that men who work for women managers seem to make slightly less income than men who work for men.
Philip N. Cohen, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who announced the study, said the study describes what happens to workers' pay when women break through the so-called glass ceiling -- the term giving to the limit on upward mobility for women and minorities in the workplace.
"The glass ceiling is about all women, not just women who become managers," said Cohen. "If women break through the glass ceiling, it helps other women."
The study examined compensation for 1.3 million American workers in nearly 30,000 jobs and 79 metropolitan areas.
