It's no secret that men generally get paid more than women for comparable jobs. But results from the 2002 Network World Salary Survey holds hope that in the IT world, the gap is diminishing.

Salaries of men vs. women Your Salary 2002: Back to reality

Female respondents to the survey reported base salary increases of 5.6% in the past year, from $60,720 to $64,150, vs. 4.7% for men, from $69,160 to $72,390. While a larger percentage doesn't mean as much if your salary is lower to begin with, at least it's a step in the right direction.

Larger percentage increases for women "might be a way to even out some of those inequities," says Debra Nagy, voice network specialist for a large insurance company in the Northeast. "Managers are all given choices on what we pay different people, so long as we stick to a specific budget."

Judy Berglund, manager of network services for Truserv, a Chicago hardware chain, accepts it as fact that men get paid more than women. The pay discrepancy "has gotten better over the years," she says. "It's starting to come into balance, but I don't think it ever will fully." The merit-based system her company uses is designed to provide a failsafe against gender-based discrepancies in pay increases.

In addition to salary, survey findings showed differences in the criteria women deem critical to taking a job as compared with men. Among the criteria that women rated statistically higher than men were professional development and training, family friendliness, recognition/appreciation of your work, annual salary reviews/raises, job schedule flexibility, leave and proximity to home.

The survey also shows that women tend to work fewer hours than men. Women put in an average of just less than 57 hours per week whereas men work nearly 64.

- Paul Desmond

Photo subject: Edmund Hung, network director for Guitar Center.

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