Washington ? Women now earn the majority of diplomas in fields men used to dominate – from biology to business – and have caught up in pursuit of law, medicine and other advanced degrees.

Even with such enormous gains over the past 25 years, women are paid less than men in comparable jobs and lag in landing top positions on college campuses.

Federal statistics released Thursday show that in many ways, the gender gap among college students is widening. The story is largely one of progress for women, stagnation for men.

Women earn the majority of bachelor’s degrees in business, biological sciences, social sciences and history.

The same is true for traditional strongholds such as education and psychology.

In undergraduate and graduate disciplines where women trail men, they are gaining ground, earning larger numbers of degrees in math, physical sciences and agriculture.

“Women are going in directions that maybe their mothers or grandmothers never even thought about going,” said Avis Jones-DeWeever, who oversees education policy for the Institute of Women’s Policy Research.

“We’re teaching girls that they need to be able to explore every opportunity that they are interested in.” she said.

“It’s good to see that is happening.”

The findings were part of a 379-page report, “The Condition of Education,” a yearly compilation of statistics that give a picture of academic trends.

Women now account for about half the enrollment in professional programs such as law, medicine and optometry. That is up from 22 percent a generation ago.

The number of women enrolled in undergraduate classes has grown more than twice as fast as it has for men. Women outnumber men on campus by at least 2 million, and the gap is growing.

In business, by far the most popular degree field among undergraduates, women earn slightly more than half of all bachelor degrees; it was one-third in 1980.