I discovered this a few years ago, about a large number of women and some men. My wife got a job and the employer glossed over salary negotiations with an "ass

I discovered this a few years ago, about a large number of women and some men. My wife got a job and the employer glossed over salary negotiations with an "assumed sale" of minimum wage! I asked why she accepted that, and she said "There wasn't an opportunity to negotiate salary. They just gave me the 'standard rate'." She's not a meek woman. No one had ever told her that you could ask for more. With my help she got a 2x raise just by assertively asking for it. She's bragged to her parents about it and I learn that her mother had never negotiated a salary or raise in her entire life. So I ask all my female friends: same thing, my mom: same thing, then my ardently feminist sister: same thing! It was a twilight zone moment for me. The reasons why varied, but they could be generalized as an expectation of fairness combined with a small amount of irrational fear.