On the other hand, Working Woman did find that female doctors and lawyers still make significantly less than their testosterone-charged counterparts, though the magazine's survey doesn't seem to adjust for such variables as experience. Thanks to the cruel, sexist hand of evolution, women bear children and men don't. Mothers do earn less than both men and childless women. As of 1991, women without children were earning about 95 percent as much as male colleagues, with moms trailing well behind. Then there's the small matter of preferences.
Different people have the annoying habit of liking different things.
As the Pacific Research Institute pointed out in a 1995 study , women tend to gravitate toward academic degrees and professions other than those that attract men. In particular, education is a popular discipline with women, while engineering, mathematics, and the physical sciences are more popular with men. Since engineering PhDs earn more than doctors of education, paychecks take a hit. But nobody is drafting women into lower-paid careers. Presumably, those choosing these professions are finding the sort of job satisfaction that doesn't come attached to a dollar sign.