Men in legal professions make almost twice as much as women, but. . .

I've written here several times about my opinions on the existence of a glass ceiling for women in America. In general, I don't believe that it exists any longer. Yes, it was once there. Yes, there still may be select occupations in which women of equal merit as men aren't promoted as quickly. Yes, there are cases of discrimination based on gender.

But the crux of my argument against the glass ceiling and earnings discrepancies between men and women is that the available studies don't compare the genders job-for-job. The studies look at the earnings of the genders overall, and come to the conclusion that men are paid more.

What they're not factoring in is that men often choose the types of jobs that pay more than the types of jobs women often choose. The studies also don't factor in the issue that women often take time off for childbearing, and are more likely to return to work on a less-than-full-time basis after children.