Women on FTSE 100 boards still earn more than two-thirds less than their male counterparts, according to analysis by law firm Fox & Partners.
The firm found that the pay gap between men and women on boards of the top listed companies had narrowed slightly, from 70% to 68%. Average pay for women at board level is £335,953, compared to £1.07 million for men.
The number of female executive directors increased by 10% last year, according to its analysis, to 43. More than nine in 10 (91%) female directors in the FTSE 100 hold non-executive positions, rather than executive roles.
The average pay for women directors increased 9% over the past year to £335,953, up from £308,984 in the previous 12 months. However average pay for male directors only increased 3% to £1.07m from £1.04m in 2022.
Catriona Watt, a partner at Fox & Partners, said the figures showed that there is “still a considerable way to go”.
“The pace of change is still very gradual. Listed companies should be striving to close the gap faster.
“We noted several years ago that listed companies were achieving boardroom gender diversity almost exclusively by appointing women to non-exec roles rather than executive roles.
That flattered their figures but meant that women were still largely excluded from the arguably most important and most highly paid corporate jobs.”
In executive roles, male directors earn on average 35% more than female directors, while in non-executive roles, male pay is 50% higher.
Average executive director pay for men was £3,150,424 and £2,332,334 for women. Average non executive director pay was £191,381 for men, and £127,593 for women.
Fox & Partners research echoes findings from search firm Russell Reynolds last week, which found that female representation is much lower in executive roles than on boards.
Despite a slight improvement for FTSE 100 directors, the average gender pay gap at this level is much worse than it is in the wider labour market.
Over the past decade, it has fallen by approximately a quarter among full-time employees, and in April 2024, it stood at 7%, down from 7.5% in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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