The average senior director salary for men is 22.23% more than for women at the same level, according to the report released this week. On average, UK male senior director salaries are £200,000 ($253k), while female senior director salaries are £156,000 ($197k).
The analysis looked at September data from 534 organizations in the United Kingdom, where the government requires entities with 250 or more employees to submit an annual gender pay gap disclosure.
Gender pay gaps are present at all levels of leadership, the report found.
At the CEO level, the pay gap between male and female executives stands at 15.3% for base salaries but rises to an 18.6% gap when bonuses and allowances are factored in. In real terms, male CEOs in the UK can expect an average compensation of £249,000 ($315k) per annum, compared with the female average of £203,000 ($257k).
Career progression challenges persist
“These figures provide us some important insights into the gender pay gap at leadership level in the UK, suggesting that we continue to face persistent challenges in achieving pay equality,” said Erin Mansell, head of communications and public affairs at the Women’s Budget Group, a UK-based economics think tank.
“But the gender pay gap isn’t just about women being paid less than men for the same job; it stems from a combination of economic and social factors that reduces women’s earning capacity throughout their whole lives,” Mansell added, highlighting that women continue to shoulder the majority of work caring for children or relatives, which can often create career progression challenges.
The Brightmine analysis also found that for other leadership roles, including directors, department managers and section managers, the disparity between male and female pay ranges from 12.81% to 19.9%.
Those figures align with the latest data from the British government’s Office of National Statistics, which found that the gender pay gap is wider among higher-paid employees than lower earners. Moreover, ONS data shows the gender pay gap is larger for workers aged 40 and over.
The gender pay disparity among all employees, including part-time workers, is 13.1%, according to ONS figures released in October.
The pay gap in the UK has been gradually declining, but “the pace of change has been much slower than expected,” according to the Brightmine analysis. That should be a concern for businesses because “compensation disparity can lead to higher turnover rates and a less diverse leadership, lower workforce morale and, ultimately, affect revenues,” the report added.
Mid-size companies have highest gender pay gaps
Compensation differences are present in companies of all sizes, but the largest disparity between men and women in leadership roles is found at mid-size organizations.
For organizations with fewer than 250 employees, male leaders earn 18.8% more. However, as the size of the company increases, so does the gender pay gap. In organizations with between 250 and 999 employees, the gulf increases to a whopping 26.1%.
For businesses with 1,000 employees or more, the gap diminishes again, to 10.5%, which analysts attribute to big organizations having more benchmarked and standardized compensation structures.
Commenting to BusinessBecause on the report, Mary Walsh, communications advisor at the FTSE Women Leaders Review, suggested that work was underway to redress the gender pay gap and female leadership disparity, but that data collection and interrogation played an important part in continuing to maintain this momentum.
“Increasing the representation of women in senior leadership roles is key to closing the gender pay gap. Whilst many companies have made huge strides over the last decade, particularly on boards, there remains much more to be done to achieve gender balance in executive roles at the top of business. Collecting, analysing and understanding the pay data is critical as this encourages transparency and accountability," Mary Walsh said.
"Visible leadership and a clear commitment to address the issue at the most senior level of the organisation are also key as they set expectations and drive change. Businesses that embrace change and build a positive working culture in which everyone is fairly rewarded will be well-placed to attract and retain the best people. This is particularly important in the current environment in which talent is at a premium," she concluded.
