American scholars found

The gender pay gap is linked to self-confidence

Although we feel that inequality between men and women is decreasing, the gender pay gap is still a common phenomenon around the world.

Especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and other science and engineering fields, women generally earn less than men globally. Researchers from Stanford University's School of Business and School of Education found that these differences may not be caused by differences in academic ability, network resources or work effort between men and women, but may be caused by differences in self-confidence.

Researchers collected data from 559 engineering and computer science graduates who graduated from more than 20 colleges and universities in the United States from 2015 to 2017. After analysis, they found that, on average, women earn less than men. , after excluding factors such as degree and grade point average, there is still a pay gap between men and women, and even the "starting salary" is different. This difference is mainly related to self-confidence. Women appear to be less confident than men in their “asking price” and salary expectations.

The research results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences remind that the economic differences between men and women do not mean that men and women have different abilities and attitudes, but may be social factors that affect women. Judgment of one's own abilities unconsciously suppresses one's desire to pursue a high salary. (Zhou Ming)