Becoming a doctor, lawyer or CEO will likely earn you a higher paycheck. But if you're a woman, you may still earn less than your colleagues. A lot less.

Even in high-paying fields, American women still earn less than their male counterparts. And in some cases, the pay gap between men and women is even more pronounced.

Executive Brief Even in the highest-paying professions, women can't catch up to their male counterparts.

While women are making more money in these fields, things like negotiation biases and fewer professional connections hold them back.

In law, for example, one survey estimates men can make hundreds of thousands of dollars more than women.

The compensation models in some high-paying professions may be to blame. Pay that's based on negotiation, client networks and company share payouts means hundreds of thousands of dollars could separate men and women in these top-paying fields, says Ariane Hegewisch, research director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

"It's much more so in professional jobs than say, if you work as a cashier," Hegewisch says. "You typically do not have to negotiate your salary [in a low-paying job]. But in professional work, there is an element of negotiation."