Men are much more likely to go for the high paycheck
Society, in general, judges men by how well they provide for their family. Now days that means ‘what does he do for a living?’. It is for many men a defining element of their identity, critical to how they feel about themselves and to how they are received by others.
Men in low paid work are treated very differently while out and about in society than men in well paid jobs. (If you don’t believe me swap out your XF Jag and chinos for a 1993 Corolla and some beach shorts and go about your day.)
Women are usually judged with less emphasise on pay cheque, with personality, looks and family situation carrying more weight than with men.
What does that mean? Men, in general, are more concerned about what a job will pay than women and will quickly dismiss low paid opportunities regardless of how much they would enjoy the work, and will do decades of hard yards to secure higher paid jobs at the expense of health, lifestyle, and family harmony.
I know there are many thousands of exceptions ( on both sides) to the generalisation I’ve written above, but if a quantitative assessment was actually possible, it would favour my ramblings. ( Either that or people just didn’t like my Corolla when I was in between jobs).