Study shows gender pay gap is reality in the boardroom

A salary gap between men and women is still a reality even among executives, a survey commissioned by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has reported.

The survey recorded an average pay gap between male and female executives of £10,060. The same study also discovered that female managers would earn £423,390 less than a male counterpart, in case of an identical career path. A similar conclusion was drawn for bonuses, as it was shown that female executives obtain only half of the amount awarded to male colleagues.

Despite the fact that the average pay gap shrank by almost £500 from 2011, the Fawcett Society, a charity which has been campaigning for gender equality for over 140 years, thinks that public sector cuts will increase the pay gap in the near future. 

Ceri Goddard, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, warned that the reduction of public sector jobs will affect more women than men, forcing them into the private sector, known for having a historically larger pay gap.

Chief executive for the CMI, Ann Francke, pointed out that a lot of businesses have been recently focused on bringing more women on board, but there is still much to do on both executive pay and equal representation at the top. 

She said: “Women make up almost three out of four at the bottom of the ladder but only one out of four at the top.  This lack of a strong talent pipeline has to change, and fast. Allowing these types of gender inequalities to continue is precisely the kind of bad management that we need to stamp out.”

Suggesting a strong action from the government, she added: “The government should demand more transparency from companies on pay, naming and shaming organisations that are perpetuating inequality and celebrating those that achieve gender equality in the executive suite and the executive pay packet.”

Figures for CMI survey clearly confirmed data from the Fawcett Society: for every £100 men take home, women are getting £85 – a 14.9% difference.

The Fawcett Society wanted to draw attention to this workplace inequality by commemorating 7^th November, yesterday, as “Equal Pay Day”. The date marks the point in the year when women, in effect, start “working for nothing” compared to men, as a consequence of the disparity in pay between women and men. 

Annalisa Ratti