Maybe women have to settle for less because employers consistently underrate their competence. Since most employers want competent people, if they irrationally

Maybe women have to settle for less because employers consistently underrate their competence. Since most employers want competent people, if they irrationally believe that women are less competent, they will be less likely to hire women, even at a discount. In general, statements of the form "but that's impossible since all people act as rational utility maximizing agents" demonstrate an ignorance of the many many studies showing that people do not act completely rationally pretty much all the time.