Crunch, yes. Munch, no

The professor of my class on Statistical Analysis of Categorical Data recently alerted us to an article listing professions in which women earn more than men. This is the same professor who urged us to gain a rich understanding of last week's material so that in our own research we "won't be at the mercy of some little number-cruncher." Little number crunchers (that is, statisticians) are second on the article's list, which also includes aerospace engineers, tool and die makers and funeral service workers. Although epidemiology is reputed to be female-dominated, Epidemiologists are not mentioned, bearing out my own limited observations. If any of you are thinking of switching fields based on this information, consider also the nationwide shortage of biostatisticians with PhDs. You can write your own ticket and be the suavest person in any room.