The Pay Gap

And They say Women aren't being discrimin ated against. Read this article and post your views.

Study reveals male-female pay gap trend
Ellen Simon, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK, April 23 -- Women make only 80 percent of the salaries their male peers do one year after college; after 10 years in the work force, the gap between their pay widens further, according to a study released Monday.

The study, by the American Associati on of Universit y Women Education al Foundatio n, found that 10 years after college, women earn only 69 percent of what men earn.

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Even after controlli ng for hours, occupatio n, parenthoo d, and other factors known to affect earnings, the study found that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplain ed. The group said that portion of the gap is "likely due to sex discrimin ation."

"Over time, the unexplain ed portion of the pay gap grows," the group said in a news release.

Catherine Hill, the organizat ion's director of research, said: "Part of the wage differenc e is a result of people's choices, another part is employer's assumptio ns of what people's choices will be. ... Employers assume that young women are going to leave the work force when they have children, and, therefore, don't promote them."

The organizat ion found that women's scholasti c performan ce was not reflected in their compensat ion. Women have slightly higher grade point averages than men in every major, including science and math. But women who attend highly selective colleges earn the same as men who attend minimally selective colleges, according to the study.

"The pay gap is not going to disappear just through education al achieveme nts," Hill said.

Copyright 2007 The Associate d Press. All rights reserved. The informati on contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistrib uted without the prior written authority of The Associate d Press.