A survey conducted in 2006 has found that more than 80% of women felt undervalued at work. BUT more than 2/3s of them did not ask for a pay hike. This could be a reason for the wage gap we have here.

I agree. I often find it very stressful to ask for a pay raise. I think men routinely ask for pay raises, but women only do so if prompted by their situation!

I also think that aside from the discomfort, traditional work for women are also paid lower.

On top of these, women are often offered lower salaries when they are recruited.

That should be against the equal pay act, shouldn't it?

Yes, but it still happens.

I think that this boils down to psychology. Women are taught to be nice and accommodating, men are taught to be assertive. So they grow up to be quite different people!

The Office for National Statistics also concurs. It reports that women are getting 16.4% less pay than male counterparts.

I came across some studies that showed that even the women themselves undervalue their work. For example, a study found that female students in the UK and Australia expects for a lower pay than male students.

Friends Provident also conducted a study. It seems that most women do not really consider salary as an important factor in their jobs. Only 24% of women interviewed viewed salary as important, while 37% of men viewed the same.