Does Patagonia have the answer for narrowing the gender wage gap?

More than 50 US companies have signed a pledge to commit to paying the same salaries to women and men; here, we profile four of them

The debate around fairer pay for women feels more prominent and urgent than ever. Yet, despite this momentum, new estimates suggest the gender pay gap won't be closed anytime soon. A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take up to 170 years for the world's women to earn wages that are equitable to men's.

While that's the global picture, things aren't much better at home in the US. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, in 2015, female full-time employees earned about $0.79 for every dollar made by full-time male employees. For minorities, the data is even more disparaging: African American women earn $0.64, Native American women earn $0.59 and Latinas earn $0.54.