Female Doctors Earn $365K Less Than Men Over Career

The gender wage gap exists even among top physicians. While analyzing a group of 800 doctors who won a competitive research grant, researchers from the University of Michigan and Duke were surprised to discover that the female physicians in the group earned on average $12,194 less a year than their male counterparts, with all other salary factors taken into account, reports Forbes. That translates into about $365,000 less over a 30-year career.

Motherhood, which is routinely used to explain the wage gap, did not make sense in this case as women without children still received lower pay. Nor did particular specializations. The study's lead author chalks it up to an unconscious bias that pushes both men and women to underestimate the value of a female's work and skills. Another reason, notes Forbes blogger Kate Taylor: Women are less likely to negotiate for a raise than men. (More salary stories.)