Finkel points out that most of the people who get technical degrees from top universities are men. She says it's not that women are prevented from getting the same degrees, which often lay the groundwork for well-paying careers; it's that not enough women pursue them.

Finkel has her own theory regarding why this is so. Although she calls herself a proponent of equality between the sexes, she argues that some biological differences can influence how well men and women succeed at technical careers, which in turn affects pay.

"I hesitate to say this, but the really great math minds have never been women," she says. "I'm not sexist at all, and I know women are capable of great things. But I look at certain skills and find that there are ways men think and women don't. Due to the universities women choose, what they tend to major in, and the fields in which they often work, too often they earn less."

What's more, Finkel also believes that women don't receive the same level of mentoring as men. They are less informed about what to ask for during salary negotiations, and often are less assertive about describing what they want (see sidebar story, "Chutzpah May Be Missing Coin In Salary Negotiations").

Finkel says that to shrink or eliminate the pay gap, women must pursue the best education they can get, seek advice from other women in their field, and recognize their own value so they can present themselves in a way that will make that value apparent in the job market.

Brent Longnecker, an executive VP at Resources Connection LLC, a professional services company specializing in IT, says most companies are working hard to root out any remnants of sex discrimination toward women in IT. He says discriminatory practices that occur today aren't the product of a conscious effort; rather, they arise because companies fail to recognize deep-seated cultural stereotypes about women.

However, some women don't believe they've been discriminated against--at least, not recently. Paolucci says she hasn't experienced discrimination at her current job or at her last one, and is happy with her pay and her work.

Barbara Wilson, VP of applications development at Kelly Services Inc. in Troy, Mich., believes she has never been paid less than men in similar positions during her 25 years in IT. "I always have felt fairly compensated for the job I did," she says. "I never felt I was overlooked for a promotion because I was a woman."

She thinks one reason salary surveys may indicate that women earn less than men in IT is because women often have less experience.

Wilson and others note that many women are relative newcomers to technology positions; only within the past decade or so have sizable numbers of women begun to enter the field (in fact, of the 16,900 respondents to InformationWeek's salary survey, only 2,277 were women). As a result, there are more men with 10 to 25 years of experience, so comparing earnings based on job title alone fails to give a complete picture.

Another factor, she says, could be the degree of commitment people have to their careers. "That can vary between men and women," she says. "What you can expect to get out of a job in terms of promotions and salary is based on what you're willing to commit. In some situations, the woman is more committed to family than the man is."

Other executives agree. Stephen Morin, VP and CIO at TAC Worldwide Companies, a Newton, Mass., provider of contract personnel in the professional fields, says most women with families still have greater responsibilities in the home than men do. However, Morin says the women on his staff are on par with the men in terms of salary.

Longnecker says it's difficult to achieve complete parity when it comes to salaries. People have different educational backgrounds, job training, and skills. "But we have to limit and remove as much discrimination as possible for all people, " he says. "In today's economy, to be unfair with one segment of the working population will cost too much, from a litigation and recruitment standpoint. Companies can't afford to have the reputation of being a male-dominated organization. It would be stupid to not address this issue when human capital is so valuable."

As demonstrated in this article, opinions about the gender-pay gap in IT vary considerably. What are your views? Write us at iwletters@cmp.com