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Which is reasoning that's difficult to prove. To the contrary women and underprivileged minorities also feel like they can't be assertive without being labeled as shrill.

The wage gap, at firms without a history of discrimination, is almost entirely determined by women having their first child and the support structures around it (subsidized childcare, paternity leave, flexible hours).[1][2] This suggests the assertiveness is probably not the issue.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaconn/2023/11/08/nobel-winne... [2] https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/j...

This explanation hold less and less water as corporations switch more firmly to tiered compensation tied directly to title.

New employees vs more experienced employees, and different job descriptions are even more likely to explain the differences.

I don't know if that's the case here. But it would be good to investigate all the possible factors before coming to any conclusions.

The reality is likely much more nuanced. But Id expect what fields they choose to go into is the bigger factor.