Female managers still get a small percentage of their male counterparts | Women on the board of directors

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New research shows that female directors of the UK’s largest companies are still paid a fraction of what their male counterparts do, underscoring the pay gap that persists between men and women on Britain’s boards.

The average wage for female FTSE 100 managers is just £237,000, just over a quarter of the £875,900 paid to their male counterparts, according to research by the New Street Consulting Group.

With female directors’ wages down 73%, figures show that the gender pay gap in blue-chip firms is much worse than the overall population, with women paying 15.5% less than men in the broader job market, based on official data.

The large pay gap at the board level is mainly due to the majority of female directors in FTSE 100 companies holding non-executive positions that attract lower salaries than executive positions.

Claire Carter, director of the New Street Consulting Group, said the number of female directors at the FTSE 100 has increased sharply in the past five years, but research shows there is “a lot more to do”.

“Focusing only on the percentages of female directors is not enough when trying to deal with equality,” she said.

In this year’s latest update on the government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review, which looked at women’s representation at the top of business, its goal of 33% of board positions in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 held by women by 2020. Sir Philip Hampton, who chaired the review, praised the progress but said companies needed to hire and promote women to senior executive positions “to sustain the changes that have been made”.

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Most companies want to end the “old boys club at the top,” Carter said. “The key to doing this is to ensure that women have more executive responsibilities and that they are properly trained and prepared to take on that responsibility. It will be about them checking if there are any obstacles preventing females from getting to the top in their organization.”

Female non-executive directors in the FTSE 100 earn an average wage of £104,800, compared to £170,400 for men, according to New Street Consulting Group research. The pay gap among CEOs is even more pronounced, with women earning an average of £1.5m, compared to £2.5m for their male peers.

Studies show that having female board members is associated with better financial performance in the future, including higher earnings and stock market returns.

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