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Men Get Paid More than Women ? Even on Top CEO Level

In a year that Fortune Magazine is calling it the year of the Most Powerful Women CEO, we can still see that women across the pipeline ? from the lowest paid worker to the highest ranking CEO ? are earning 2 to 3 times less than men. Even though women are steadily making their mark in the business world and running major corporations, they are still earning much less than their male counterparts in the business world. So should we look at the broader picture and embrace the fact that women are finally making millions, or should we be concerned with the statistics?

Fortune magazine published the results of its findings regarding the ten highest paid men and women CEOs and the disparities in salary level are immediately evident. Number 10 on the men?s list (James R. Moffett, Chairman of Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold) earned himself $48-million ? 85% more than the highest paying female CEO (Safra Catz, president and CFO of Oracle, who earned $26.1-million).

There are many reasons for this gap in salaries, most of them not necessarily based on blatant discrimination between the sexes. While studies find that women may work continuously throughout their lifetime as most men do, women are still subject to stronger family responsibilities that may affect their choice of employer and job type. The major concern among women?s rights groups, however, remains that there is still a huge scarcity in the number of women holding top positions in companies overall.