Caligula’s Palace makes has a good analysis of the gender pay gap.

It has some goods comments about why men tend to have higher pay levels then women, some based on a recent paper on the subject by the Institute for Economic Affairs.

However, the analysis is let down by one comment.

“There are many more very very clever men than very very clever women, so that the aptitude for some very high paying clever clever jobs is skewed towards men.”

Anyone trying to defend the contrary view will point to this comment, say that the valid comments are biased and reject the whole argument. This would be a pity as much of the rest could aid our understanding.

The comment should also be put into context. The number of men with high IQs might be higher (I do not know). As Caligula’s Palace points out, men tend to be more driven and spend longer in the workforce. They therefore gain the experience necessary to gain the top jobs, as well as the stamina required. There are exceptions, of which the premier example of the last century was Baroness Thatcher, and the exceptions are becoming more frequent.