Women earn less than Men

[GrandizerII]

Unconscious discrimination?

I would call it subconscious rather than unconscious.

Nevertheless, the point is that employers don't just necessarily think consciously to themselves "oh, she's just a woman, so I know how much she deserves" or "hey, she's a woman, so that means I don't have to pay her as much" or something like that. Rather, what may happen is they'll come up with different reasons in their minds why this particular person got this much pay compared to someone else. e.g., "she didn't negotiate with me", "he's doing well with his colleagues or coworkers", or "she's too timid"

In their minds, gender is irrelevant to the "actual" reasons for less pay. But it doesn't mean associations aren't subconsciously made between, say, being female and "not getting things done as well as men".

Of course, not saying this is how it is in every case. This is partly speculation, albeit based on studies in social psychology and related areas.