When it comes to the economy, things are different for men and women. As the White House holds a forum on women and the economy Thursday, we look at three economic issues and how they specifically affect women.

THE GLASS CEILING

The "glass ceiling" refers to the barriers women face in making it to the top spots in their professional lives. Is that an oversimplification of the challenges women face in the workplace?

Alice Eagly, professor of social psychology at Northwestern University, will join The Daily Circuit. The challenges women face isn't just at the top, she said. She prefers the term "labyrinth" instead.

"The glass ceiling as a metaphor is misleading," Eagly said. "It suggests that the barriers to [women's advancement] are only at the top. But the reason for the low number of women CEOs, COOs, or C-whatevers is because there are lower numbers of women in the level just beneath, and the level just beneath that. So it isn't that the women are there in great numbers and then hit their head on a glass ceiling."

GENDER PAY GAP

Though the wage gap between women and men has been narrowing since 1955, the unfortunate truth remains: women continue to earn less money than men in the United States.

Hilary Lips, director of the Center for Gender Studies at Radford University, will join the discussion.

NEGOTIATING

According to a new LinkedIn study, fewer than 26 percent of women feel comfortable negotiating compared to nearly 40 percent of men. Why is that and what does it mean for women?

Sara Laschever, editor and co-author of "Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation--and Positive Strategies for Change," will join the discussion.

"There are three major causes as to why women don't negotiate," she said. "One has to do with the socialization of children, what we teach little boys and little girls about how we expect them to behave as males and females in our culture. The second has to do with the sorts of behavior we tolerate in women as adults and the third has to do with networks."

VIDEO: Women don't ask

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