Is the gender pay gap a myth?

Adjustments explain part of the gap, but not all of it or the structural forces shaping those choices.

Even comparing the same job and equal hours, controlled studies still find a small unexplained gap, and "career choices" themselves are shaped by gendered pressures like caregiving, so adjusting them away hides discrimination rather than disproving it.

Even after adjusting for occupation and hours, an unexplained wage gap persists and career choices are often constrained by systemic factors.