You would think that women CEOs -- especially those who own their own companies -- would get the same pay received by their male counterparts. After all, they are both at the top. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Meghan Casserly of Forbes Magazine, citing research from American Express Open , writes that female entrepreneurs who pay themselves write only $60,000 on the average on their paychecks. This is $18,000 lower than what their male entrepreneurs would write. This gender pay gap even among women who have the power to pay themselves any amount they like mirrors what the regular full-time working woman earned in 2010, according to the 2012 Catalyst Report where the "median annual earnings for full-time, year-round women workers in 2010 was $36,931 compared to men's $47,715." There are various reasons for this. Casserly talked to Julie Weeks, the President and CEO of Womenable who said that "there's a tendency for female entrepreneurs to pay themselves last. Any extra revenue is generally used to pay employees, bring on new hires or reinvest in the company." She added: "Women pay themselves last... Or at least not first." This is in contrast to men who pay themselves more because they place "value on their work and the hours they put into the company's success," writes Casserly. But the fact that women-owned firms are smaller and bring in lesser revenues than men-owned enterprises is also another reason why female entrepreneurs can't afford to grant themselves fatter paychecks.