What's the individual damage from gender inequality in theworkplace? For the average U.S. woman it's more than$430,000 over the course of her career, according to ananalysis by the National Women's Law Center, a non-profit advocacygroup.

The gender pay-gap issue has come to the fore followingcriticism from President Barack Obama that women earn 79 cents forevery dollar a man makes and demands by actresses including Oscarwinner Jennifer Lawrence and top women'ssoccer players for equal wages to their malecounterparts. Some states have intervened: California lawmakerslast year approved legislation mandating that women and men earnthe same amount for similar work.

“We're in a moment where women are making up an increasing partof the workforce and there's a firm recognition that their salariesmatter to themselves, but also to their families' economicsecurity,” Fatima Goss Graves, a senior vice president atNWLC, said by phone. “We've seen very prominent figures callattention to the wage gap and that's so critical because ithighlights no industry is immune to it.”