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If you're not happy with what someone is offering to pay you, then don't sign on the dotted line. Negotiate for higher pay or work for someone else who appreciates your talent.

I haven't researched this or anything, but I've heard another big reason women get paid less is because they're simply less willing than men to negotiate for higher pay. Women are less aggressive than men in that regard.

Screw that, ladies. Start speaking up for yourselves, and you'll get what you want more often.

I don't put much faith in those statistics. Too general. How much education do men have compared to women? How much experience, etc?

I'm not denying that the good old boy network is still around. Just that I'm not convinced that the reason women are paid less is because they are discounted and undervalued.

Two recent new hires here at my company for the same position, not only prove the letter writers point, but Mr. Elledges as well. The female is making about 14 percent less. When it came down to it, she negotiated less. They were both equally qualified.

Also, I would like to point out, that as women, we can not ask for equal pay, while at the same time requesting flex time. We should not expect to have it both ways.

Ms. Baker,

Your statistics are an apples to oranges comparison. It is choice and not discrimination as to why women appear to make less. Most women including professionals and mid-level executives put their families first. Here’s what the National Center for Policy Analysis had to say about the so-called “Glass Ceiling.”

“When women behave in the workplace as men do, the wage gap between them is small. June O'Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, found that among people ages 27 to 33 who have never had a child, women's earnings approach 98 percent of men's.”

It looks as though your argument of 76 cents on the dollar is entirely incorrect. Don’t just take my word for it. There are tons of other examples. Just do a Google search for “Glass Ceiling Myth” or “Wage-Gap Myth” and you’ll soon find that many women and creditable organizations agree that the statistics you cite are entirely biased.

It is illegal to discriminate based on gender. If it were so easy to just hand women smaller paychecks, men wouldn’t even be considered for employment. After all, this would increase the bottom lines of firms; being able to hire equally qualified people for much less.

In fact there are quite a number of industries in which women make more than men. Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/28/commentary/everyday/sahadi_paytable/index.htm

Should we now assert that it is unfair that women in the industries from the above article make more than men? Why do men make less in these industries? Is it discrimination? I highly doubt it. A more likely reason as to why women make more in these industries is because they work harder and smarter. I could very easily claim discrimination based on the above article, but to do that would undermine the hard work the women in those industries have done in order to get where they are today.