Female bosses in the UK will need to wait nearly a century to be paid the same as their male counterparts, although women are already earning more than men in the most junior management positions.
These are the key findings of a poll undertaken among 34,158 executives by XpertHR on behalf of the Chartered Management Institute.
The ‘2011 National Management Salary Survey’ covering the period from February 2010 to February 2011 revealed that men were paid an average of £10,546 more than women to do the same job (£42,441 versus £31,895 respectively). The gender pay gap rose slightly over the previous year when it stood at £10,031.
Because female salaries increased by 2.4% during the year, a 0.3% higher rate than those of males, however, it would, in theory, take 98 years (to 2109) for the gap to be closed.
For the first time since records began though, junior female executives earned marginally more (£602) than their male equivalents whose average salary came in at £21,367.
The CMI’s director of policy and research Petra Wilton said: “This year’s Salary Survey demonstrates, yet again, that businesses are contributing to the persistent gender pay gap and alienating top female employees by continuing to pay men and women unequally. This kind of bad management is damaging UK businesses and must be addressed.”
But it was the responsibility of managers of both genders, their employers and the Government to effect change, although Wilton did not believe that imposing mandatory quotas and forcing organisations to reveal salaries was the way forward.
“We need the Government to scrutinise organisational pay, demand more transparency from companies on pay bandings and publicly expose organisations found guilty of fuelling the gender pay gap,” she said.
The introduction of mentoring and sponsorship programmes in more businesses and industries was also required as was more female managers “pushing their employers to formalise and publicise equal pay and opportunities policies”, Wilton said.
The survey likewise indicated that the pay gap was biggest in Northern Ireland (£13,793), but smallest in Wales (£2,441).
