It's common knowledge that men generally out earn women, but "Equal Pay Day" (April 22) drives that point home. The American Society of University Women (ASUW) says that for the average woman's salary to equal that of a man in 2007, she would have had to work from January 1, 2007 to April 22, 2008. Think of it kind of like the old concept of "tax freedom day" -- the day on the calendar that signifies you've earned enough money for the year to satisfy the IRS's demands.

According to ASUW research, one year out of college, women working full time earn only 80 percent as much as their male colleagues. But the really bad news is that 10 years after graduation, women fall farther behind, earning only 69 percent as much as men earn. Women and men who majored in traditionally male-dominated subjects in college, such as finance, earn more than do those who majored in "female dominated" or "mixed-gender" fields, according to the study.

Where do women who work in corporate finance stand in relation to men? The answer is pretty far behind, according to a new study by the Financial Women's Association (FWA). Ninety-six percent of respondents believe that women are being paid less than men for comparable work and two-thirds of respondents consider their gender to be a factor holding them back in their careers, citing a lack of access to informal networks of decision-makers, to mentors, to the type of assignments that are crucial in career advancement -- and for entrepreneurs, to the funding sources needed to start a business-- as some of the reasons.

The Business Finance 2007 Compensation Survey [2] supports the perception that women are paid less. We reported total gross compensation by gender as follows: $164,255 for men and $140,522 for women.

Women in finance clearly have a long way to go to obtain equal pay for equal work. Still, a handful of women have made it to the top in corporate America, including women executives in the finance arena. And women's professional groups are pressing hard for passage by the Senate of The Fair Pay Restoration Act [3], which has already been passed by the House. The issue should be a national priority in this election year.