"... Some of the bill's supporters admit that the pay gap is largely explained by women's choices, but they argue that those choices are skewed by sexist stereotypes and social pressures... Universities, for example, typically pay professors in their business schools more than they pay those in the school of social work, citing market forces as the justification. But according to the gender theory that informs this bill, sexist attitudes led society to place a higher value on male-centered fields like business than on female-centered fields like social work... the proposed law overlooks mountains of research showing that discrimination plays little role in pay disparities between men and women, and it threatens to impose onerous requirements on employers to correct gaps over which they have little control... among full-time, full-year workers, women earn just 77 cents for a man's dollar. But the 23-cent shortfall does not take into account differences between men and women, such as experience, education, or job tenure...women tend to value family-friendly workplace policies more than men, and will often accept lower salaries in exchange for more benefits..."
Christina Hoff Sommers - NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/opinion/22Sommers.html?_r=1
