A CONTROVERSIAL clinical psychologist has made the stunning claim that the gender pay gap is “unsolvable” and comes down to biological differences between men and women.

Professor Jordan Peterson of Canada made the claims during a testy interview with 60 Minutes’ veteran reporter Tara Brown, where he said women were more agreeable and men were more natural negotiators.

“More agreeable people get paid less. Why? Because they’re not as assertive,” Professor Peterson said.

“The differences between men and women happen to be intractable.

“They’re not going away.”

When Brown asked him if “agreeability” meant you’re just not as good at a job, he replied with a firm “no”.

While he conceded the quality could make people better in certain jobs, where “care” of people was involved, he said the research was not “solid”.

“Agreeableness tends to tilt you in terms of interest, then in terms of competence,” he said.

“If I’m understanding what you’re saying, the picture you paint is a bleak one,” Brown responded.

He rejected that, saying: “No I don’t think it’s particularly bleak. It looks like real salaries are on the rise and general levels of poverty are declining ... women are being educated at an incredibly high rate compared to 30 years ago. There’s all sorts of reasons to be optimistic but equity is not one of them.”

Professor Peterson does not accept that discrimination plays a part in the gender pay gap either.

He said that the notion of having it all isn’t realistic either.

“I want to have a life, I want to have a family — there’s no way that works,” he said.

“These differences between men and women, they’re not going away.”

He also scoffed at the thought of having equal pay. “Really, is that what we want to do?” he told Brown as she nodded right back at him in teaser footage of the 60 Minutes episode.

He said gender pay equity was economically unsound and “absolutely deadly”.

When asked why he described it as “deadly”, Professor Peterson told Brown: “It’s been tried throughout the 20th century to enforce equity outcomes all through the communist block.

“That didn’t end well. It ended very, very badly.”

Brown also travelled to Iceland, where pay equality is now an official legal requirement.

The new law came into effect in Iceland on January 1 after first being announced on International Women’s Day on March 8 last year.

Under the legislation, businesses with more than 25 employees will now have to receive official government certification to prove their equal-pay policies.

Any companies or government agencies which cannot demonstrate equal pay between staff will risk fines.

While the nordic nation has legislated for equal pay, the gender pay gap still exists in other countries like Australia where it shouldn’t.

Professor Peterson isn’t convinced of Iceland’s new law, and thinks it will fail.

Despite it being illegal in Australia, Libby Lyons, Director of the Australian Workplace Gender Equity Agency, told Brown that the gender pay gap still exists because of discrimination.

“Being paid differently to a man for doing the same job, we’re not allowed to do that under the law,” Lyons said.

“Sadly it happens all the time and that’s down to the fact of discrimination.”