No matter how hard women work in most cases, it's not enough to bridge the gender pay gap.

A year after they graduate from a four-year college, women earn 20 percent less than their male counterparts, according to a study released in April by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation. And it widens to 31 percent less 10 years after college.

"It was a little surprising that we saw the pay gap so quickly out of college," said Catherine Hill, the foundation's director of research. "We saw it right away. It's somewhat wider among college-educated men and women than the whole work force."

The study refutes the stereotype that women make less because of putting their careers on hiatus for a few years to give birth and raise their children, said Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.

"This pay disparity exists even for students fresh out of college," Capps said.

The pay gap is a significant problem in Ventura County and across the country, she said.

"It's been 44 years since the Equal Pay Act was introduced, and we still see the disparity in such astonishing numbers," Capps said.

When the Equal Pay Act became law in 1963, women earned 59 cents on average for every dollar earned by men doing the same work. By 2005, the pay increased to 77 cents on the dollar an improvement, but not enough of one, Capps said.

The gap is especially apparent in Ventura County, which has a large minority population. When compared with white men doing the same job, African-American women earn an average of 66 cents on the dollar and Hispanic women make 55 cents on the dollar, according to a 2006 Census Bureau report.

Women have made progress, particularly in terms of educational achievement, Hill said. They are now the majority of graduates on many college campuses and are more likely to get higher grades in every subject, she said.

"It's something to celebrate that so many doors have opened," said Hill. "It was not so long ago where women were not permitted to go to college in certain programs, or could be kicked out of college for being pregnant."

After Hill's mother became pregnant, she was encouraged to leave Radcliffe College, and was told that she wasn't qualified to be a student. It was a decision she didn't even question, even though today, no one would bat an eye at a pregnant woman in college, Hill said.

"Yes, we've made these achievements, yet we're not seeing the paycheck keep up," she said.

After completing college, women are also a little more in debt than men and yet they're going to earn less she said.

"And that's going to make it harder to start a family, buy a house, or buy cars," Hill said.

A taboo topic

Part of the problem is that many women don't know if they are being paid fairly because they don't feel comfortable talking about money.

"Most people know more about their co-worker's sex lives than they know about their paycheck," Hill said.

The Paycheck Fairness Act, proposed April 24 on Equal Pay Day, would protect workers who choose to share their salary with another person, without having to worry employers will retaliate.

While employers don't openly forbid the discussion of salary, many companies have confidentiality policies to dissuade the dissemination of such information.

"When people know, they are more likely to advocate on their behalf," Capps said.

Even if employees don't want to broach the subject with their peers, there's no excuse not to have an accurate reference point in the information age, Hill said. Web sites such as Salary.com, PayScale.com and Monster.com provide salary calculators specific to region and vocation.

The Paycheck Fairness Act "puts some teeth into" the Equal Pay Act, Capps said. It would give employers incentives to pay equally, and would allow women to sue for punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages, she said. The legislation would create grant programs to strengthen the negotiation skills of women and children.

If passed, employers will get a better work force because women resent it when they aren't paid the equivalent of their male counterparts, and they are more likely to not work as hard or leave to find a better paying job, Capps said.

She is cautiously optimistic the legislation will pass. It still needs to get through a series of votes in the House and Senate, and then signed by the president.

"It recognizes too little progress has been made with the Equal Pay Act," Capps said. "We are seeing such a snail's pace of progress. We have so many women in the work force now. Many of these women are single. That means we have impoverished households, and that means there are families at risk. This is about strengthening families and strengthening communities."

Most women will spend a big part of their careers alone, whether it is because of divorce, separation or becoming a widow, Hill said.

Making a few thousand dollars less a year than a man may not bother a young woman living alone without a family to support, Hill said. But the promotions and job offers received based on prior pay can affect a woman's entire career. As women start families, they are more apt to become aware of the pay disparities.

"We need to equalize our expectations of parents," Hill said. "We really see men and women behaving very differently. Women are clearly taking the caregiving role, which might be the right choice in the beginning. But so many marriages don't work, that we think it's wise for women to accept that reality and become financially responsible."

Low pay is especially a problem in industries that are female-dominated, such as nursing, child care and food processing, Capps said.

Women opting to pursue lower paying positions than men explains part of the pay gap. They are far more inclined to work in education, but less likely to be found in computer science.

Likely to take a leave

AAUW Educational Foundation's study found that women were more likely to take a leave at some point. However, the study found that 25 percent of the pay gap remains unexplained, which points toward discrimination.

Most employers do not think they discriminate against women, Hill said, and most do not discriminate intentionally. But based on the perceptions employers make, such as assuming a young woman will leave her job to have children, might discourage them from promoting a woman versus a man, she said.

Chin-Ning Chu, author of "The Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu's Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at Work," says women who are "superb in their field cannot be discriminated against, because men are not stupid."

"Anyone who can make money for them, even if it is a dog, they will treat that dog right," said Chu, a San Francisco Bay Area resident.

She urges women to make themselves better than the competition.

"If you're better, then money is not a problem," she said. "If you're not better, they will not give you a raise when you ask for one. They will give you a walk paper instead."

She argued that women as a whole lack a "warrior spirit."

"We still have that Cinderella syndrome, and have a glass slipper somewhere in our heart," Chu said. "We're all waiting around for our Prince Charming to rescue us from the workplace. Certainly, this attitude is not for the battlefield of business. In business, you need a combat boot mentally."

Chu predicts women's wages will catch up to men in this century "finally, after 5,000 years," she said. "I call this century the woman's century."

Still, Chu warns that women cannot have it all.

"You can get everything you want, but not at the same time," she said. "If you want to establish your career first, then you will have to delay your family. Or, you could have your kids and then establish your career."

At Patagonia in Ventura, women don't have to make that choice. The outdoor apparel company provides an on-site child care facility for employees, as well as four months leave for both mothers and fathers after a birth or adoption. Two of these months are paid.

"I only wish I worked at Patagonia when my children were little," said Chief Financial Officer Martha Groszewski. "At the time, I had live-in help, and all the money I earned went to child care."

Groszewski predicts the pay gap will eventually disappear, but not for a generation or two. But considering women have only become a significant part of the work force for the past two generations, women have made big strides, she said.

Companies have to ask: "How can we create an off ramp for people to take some time off from their career, and then create an on ramp to get back to work?" said Shannon Ellis, director of Human Resources at Patagonia.

She added that Patagonia's top wage earners are equally weighted in terms of gender and pay.

"I don't think the glass ceiling ever existed here," Ellis said.

Paycheck Fairness Act

- It would create incentives for employers to eliminate pay disparities.

- The Department of Labor would be allowed to enhance its efforts to assist employers with eliminating inequities.

- Employees would be allowed to talk freely about salary, and employers would be prohibited from retaliating.

- Employers would be required to prove that wage gaps between men and women are not a result of gender discrimination.

- The legislation must pass the House and Senate before it can be submitted for approval to the president.

Source: American Association of University Women; Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara