So I not so sure that the "pay gap" exists within each field.
In BigLaw, you have significantly more male partners than women partners. This creates a defacto pay gap in the legal profession. The money goes to the top of the pyramid.
Here's an example from a former BigLaw attorney now SAHM:
She talks about how few women partners there were.
BigLaw BlogGreat read. DW will like it. Law Firms compensation is more like a pyramid scheme than your typical firm, though.
DW sees the same thing in senior management at a lot of firms. They lack an objective means of promoting people and lack an overall strategy for developing their people. But that is most firms these days. IMHO we'd see a huge increase in performance if firms did a better job of choosing people and mentoring them.
But most likely they, like me, weren't willing to make the family sacrifices necessary to be successful in the male dominated legal field.
She did not mention the mental stress. This is the hardest part.
DW has made the same choice, for now. She was offered the CFO position and turned it down so they brought her on in another role where she has no operational responsibilities. Otherwise, it would be 70 hour weeks.
A lot of men make the same choice, too.
