To me, this is a very easy issue to deal with.

The legal barriers to women progressing equally in the workplace have been removed.

If women aren't choosing to enter the IT field, that's their choice. If they don't like their choice, they can change it. Not my problem.

So, if women who choose to enter the IT field aren't progressing equally (in pay or promotions), I'm interested in why.

Now, any group of people, be their group based on cultural, socio-economic, regional, or biological reasons, may well have a "group pattern" for handling a given situation.

It doesn't matter what group you pick that has such a pattern, some members of the group use a different pattern successfully. That means that members of the group have the capability to choose a different pattern and use it successfully.

So, the question isn't about ability, it's again about choice.

I have a sports hobby. I wear knightly armour and perform medieval martial arts with swords, maces, axes, spears, etc.

I have a fighting style, my "group pattern" if you will.

When my opponent rings my helmet with a sword blow delivered full-force at 25+ mph, I could complain that's unfair, because my style is just as valid as his (or her) style. But the reality is, if I'm on the receiving end of a buffet from that person on a regular basis, my style - or my execution of it, simply isn't up to par.

I don't complain about it. I just learn what they are doing better than I am at this task and I copy it. Then I do better. My style evolves and improves because I change it to what works better.

Sometimes someone has a natural advantage that I can't copy. They might be 6' 6" tall with wrists like my thighs. I could whine about it and continue to get clocked. Or, I could use my noggin and figure out something I can do that they can't, something that their massive size gets in the way of, and use their size and strength against them. Will I have to work a bit harder? Yep. But once I figure out an improvement to my style that neutralizes their inborn advantage, so will they.

So, rather than piss and moan about not getting equal pay for equal work, why not learn what career and job negotiating strategies work best and use them?