“..economic playing field more equal than it has ever been and women earning the majority of four year degrees. The Labor Department released a study in July of this year that reported that the wage gap between men and women, particularly among people in their 20s, was shrinking tremendously.”

But it’s not that simple…check out the article!
~L

Some info here that women often take jobs that pay less so that they can spend more time w/their family and they are absent more frequently: http://fazeer.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/why-do-women-earn-less-than-men/

This article has info on women being more likely to go into careers that pay less and it shows some interesting data on people who had gender reassignment surgery: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1983185,00.html

I hope these links help some. There is also some research out there that women and men are mostly equally paid until the pay reaches the $100K mark, then men are much more likely to be paid more than women. I have a friend who is in HR. She told me once that men she hires will negotiage for more money more often than women. I have also seen research that boys are more likely to negotiate with parents and other authority figures at a young age, so maybe this is something inborn? (Here’s a story about women and men negotiating at work: http://equalitymyth.com/post/484627384/kristof-the-boys-have-fallen-behind-but-what-about).

I hope no one reads my comments and thinks that I believe that women are always being treated equally at work (they are definitely not) or that I agree with unfair pay. In fact, I am one of those women who went into teaching (low paying!!), not for the money but because I love what I do.