Are Women Creating their Own Pay Gap?

I read with interest a href=”http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/WomenCreatingPayGap.aspx?vv=400GT1=8473″this article from MSN Money/a on how women may be sabotaging their salaries and pay by charging less for some services: “A new study finds female professionals lower their bills to maintain client relationships.”br /br /I have certainly found this true in psychology–I remember that even when I was looking for an internship that paid a reasonable rate, I was told that there were many students or post-docs willing to do the job for almost nothing-mainly, these were female students being supported by someone other than themselves. I balked at the pay and tried to set up something more lucrative but it was hard. Later, in practice, I found the same type of behavior where many of my colleagues were charging very little around my area or would not fight back when pay levels dropped with managed care etc. One of my colleagues, a male, just shook his head and said, “A PHD in psychology is a rich man’s (or woman’s) game.” I think there is some truth to that. I now see my field as a hobby and take cases that are of interest but rarely for the money. I can make more doing almost anything else. br /br /I think it is fine to care more about your relationship with clients than you do about money, but with that, comes the responsibility of realizing that you have chosen to do so and are willing to live with the results of your decision rather than blaming men and the rest of society for discrimination.