Gender pay gap persists in City boardrooms as male directors still earning 70% more than female counterparts

The gender pay gap is alive, well and flourishing in FTSE boardrooms.

Research today by Fox & Partners shows that while the gap between what male and female directors is down on a year ago from 74%, it is still at a fairly extraordinary 70%.

The average pay for women directors is £309,000, while it is £1.04m for men.

The women’s pay rose 26%, compared to 11% for the men.

£1.04m

The average pay for male directors, compared to £309,000 for women

This pay gap is partly explained by the vast majority of women board directors typically being in lower paid non-executive roles.

Which suggests the FTSE giants have tried to address gender imbalances by putting women in the boardroom – just not on the executive team.

The figures from the employment and law specialists shows that 91% of the 426 female directors at FTSE 100 companies were in a non-executive role.

But men are still paid significantly more than women both for executive and non-executive roles.

On average, male non-executives -- £179,892 -- were paid 52% more than females £118,738. That is partly because they tend to have a higher share of more senior non-exec roles such as “Chairman”.

At the CEO level, men got an average of £3.3m, 38% more than female executives at £2.4m.

 Catriona Watt of Fox & Partners says; “While the latest data shows improvement, there still remains a yawning gap in director pay between the genders.”

“For significant change to occur, business will need to continue investing in programmes that prepare women for the most senior executive positions, for example by ensuring that they have access to projects that bolster their experience and address any potential gaps, as well as being transparent about requirements for promotions and progression.”