The pay equity gap between men and women in Australia will not close until women are prepared to work longer hours, an academic says.

Social researcher for the University of Melbourne Mark Wooden said men were earning on average 15 per cent more than women because they put in more time at the workplace.

"All high achievers in all walks of life ... put in long hours into their activity," Professor Wooden said.

"It's (the pay equity gap) got a lot to do with the fact that women are not prepared to work longer hours."

Prof Wooden said even if workplaces were family friendly, "many women would not pursue long-hour jobs".

The only male taking part in a National Press Club panel discussion about the pay equity gap, Prof Wooden's remarks drew gasps from the mostly female audience.

The panel, including federal Minister for the Status of Women Tanya Plibersek, was looking at why the pay equity gap has been around 15 per cent over the past decade.

On average, for every dollar earned by a full-time male employee a female will earn 85 cents.

A recent report by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency found that female CEOs earned two-thirds of the median wage of male counterparts.

It also found that female graduates entering the workforce earn around $3,000 less than their male counterparts.

Prof Wooden said closing the gap would require a change in the traditional family structure.

"The only way we can achieve this is if we have lots of role reversals, lots of men behaving like women and lots of women behaving like men."

"I don't think women in Australia want that, I don't think that women anywhere in the world want that."

Ms Plibersek strongly disagreed, saying it was a matter of role-sharing, not role reversal.

"The idea that high performers are in the office until nine o'clock at night and every weekend ... is something that we need to challenge," she told the panel.

"It is our intention that over time the pay gap will close."

Ms Plibersek said the Productivity Commission's inquiry into paid maternity leave, increasing tax rebates for child care and dismantling Work Choices were policies that would help reduce the gap.

Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Liz Broderick said a major priority should be changing workplace culture so all jobs, including senior roles, "come in all shapes and sizes".

"Once we start to do that I think we will start to see a critical mass of women and men with caring responsibilities at the most senior levels of each area of activity in the country," Ms Broderick said.

"And we won't be doing it the same way we are doing it now, hopefully we won't be doing 100-hour weeks, we will be doing it totally differently.

"But what we need to do is really to accept the challenge, step up, actively manage and step forward."