You sound like an economist who believes in rational behavior and frictionless spread of information. Sadly, we're not there yet. In the real world, the subcon

You sound like an economist who believes in rational behavior and frictionless spread of information. Sadly, we're not there yet. In the real world, the subconscious belief that women aren't as good at tech is widespread, and access to studies demonstrating a lack of gender-based differences in ability is not. In such a world, managers with unexamined biases believe they are justified in paying women less and down-weighting their ideas and work. Plus, until the spread of the bias decreases, no company is at a relative disadvantage for having it.