I have seen the pay gap directly. My wife and I are both software engineers; we graduated from college at the same time, we have nearly identical experience. She did take time off when our children were young. However, she took additional college courses during this period to keep her skills sharp. To additionally balance the skills I spent several years working as a manager before deciding that I was more comfortable as an engineer. So even ignoring her time with the children and my time in management both of which had some applicable experience our ‘time in software engineering’ is nearly identical.

If I were a hiring manager, looking at the two resumes side by side without any knowledge of the maleness or femaleness of the candidates, it would come down to which skill set I need. We have taken different routes to reach the senior software engineer level, so we had different but sought after skill sets.

Bringing me to the difference, I make almost 20% more than she does, for no reason at all. I look at her skills, I look at my skills, and they are worth the same to any company that needs them. It frustrates me that someone who is as skilled, as smart or smarter than I am, and as experienced earns less than I do.