Do those chemical engineers make the same amount of money as a software dev with the same amount of experience? A fresh ChemE grad would be lucky to land a 120K job as a process engineer. Very lucky. An entry software job is 150K. Does this mean the a CS grad is on average more impactful to the economy than a chemical engineer?
Not all industries can pay as much as software. A PhD with an extra 5-10 years of industrial experience may get a 200K salary in biotech, often less. A CS bachelor with 1-2 years of experience would get that 200K. Pay doesn't always equal the value of your contribution, especially if you compare them across different fields.