“Left to their own devices, women underprice themselves. In the work force, they undervalue themselves more so than men,” said Mikelann Valterra, a Seattle author, money coach and founder of the online Women’s Earning Institute.

While the gender wage gap has shrunk — in 1979, for instance, full-time working women earned just 62 percent as much as men, compared with close to 80 percent in 2008, according to a July report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — it’s still a concern.

Given that women generally live longer, earn less and rack up fewer years in the work force, maximizing earnings is essential. And given the odds of getting divorced, being widowed or staying single, women often find themselves flying solo when it comes to finances.

According to a recent AARP financial survey, nearly two-thirds of U.S. women ages 40 to 79 have already dealt with a major financial “life crisis” — job loss, divorce, death of a spouse or serious illness.

That’s why Valterra, author of “Why Women Earn Less,” believes women need to undo some of the unconscious workplace habits they may have acquired. Women, she says, are often “underearners” because they don’t ask for a raise, don’t negotiate their initial salary, don’t raise their fees if self-employed, avoid being visible at work, often donate instead of charging for their work or stay in a job too long.

The long-term financial penalty of not starting out on the same pay scale can be daunting.

In her book, “Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide,” Carnegie Mellon University economics professor Linda Babcock compares two equally qualified 22-year-old job candidates — a man and woman. Each gets a job offer of $25,000. “John” negotiates his salary up to $30,000, while “Helen” quietly accepts her $25,000.

In Babcock’s example, assuming each earns identical 3 percent raises every year, by the time both are 60 years old, their annual pay gap would be more than $15,000. Helen would be earning roughly $76,900 to John’s $92,250. Over those 38 years, he would have earned about $361,000 more than Helen.

Did Valterra ever fail to speak up for herself?

“Oh, heck yes,” she said. “My first job, it didn’t even occur to me to negotiate. I had a master’s degree, but I was just so grateful to get a job — at $12 an hour, working as a glorified secretary for a Bay Area think tank — that I didn’t even think to say: ‘Would you consider $13 an hour?’ ”

Her turning point was years later, while living in Seattle and juggling marriage, motherhood and her job as a money coach. She’d paid for a baby sitter and was counting on the income from a scheduled client who canceled at the last minute.

“I just realized: I am not making enough for as hard as I’m working. I cannot keep underselling myself or I’ll go out of business.”

That led to a sizable fee increase, which “suddenly made my clients much more serious,” she said. “Cancellations went down, and the type of client and their commitment went way up.” – SHNS