“Women,” said Paul Samuelson, “Are men without money.” This undiplomatic statement was quoted by France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde at the FT's Women at the Top conference in London yesterday. However, Samuelson was right. The gender pay gap is large and stubborn. The economic research points the finger at the typical woman's broken career trajectory – motherhood carries a large financial penalty. But the economically rational explanation isn't the full story. Much of the debate at the FT conference yesterday was about, in effect, discrimination and whether legal quotas will be required to overcome ingrained bias against women on boards and in other top jobs.

Another issue, however, is whether women do for ourselves as much as we could. One of the best books I've read recently about the gender pay gap is Linda Babcock and Sarah Laschever's Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide. In essence it says – as the title puts it – that women don't ask for as big a salary or bonus or as many promotions as their male counterparts. So the good news is that if we ask for more, we'll get more. The bad news is that such behaviour is seen as unwomanly and we will make ourselves unpopular.

Let's hope that the FT's efforts will contribute to some new momentum on this front – the paper has a shiny supplement today on top women which looks to be full of encouraging examples. The composition of boards and top management isn't just a question of more women of course. The problem is the homogeneity and conformism of boards. Another outstanding book about the way diversity – in the conventional sense – leads to fresh ideas and better problem solving is Scott Page's The Difference. More reading recommendations welcome.