Fixing the gender gap

Efforts to close the gender gap may have been in vain a new report suggests.

New research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has shown that the pay gap between men and women widens as women rise up through the ranks at work.

Women managers over the age of 40, shockingly, are paid 35 percent less than men in comparable jobs. When women are in their 60s, the gap widens still further, to an outrageous 38 per cent, the research says.

The evidence was presented to Parliament by Anne Francke, CMI chief executive, last week to the select committee on gender equality.

“Anyone who thinks they’ve abolished the glass ceiling just by hitting Lord Davies’ targets is misguided. Equality and fair progression means much more than having the same number of men and women on boards.” She added: “Female managers face what I believe is a ‘glass pyramid’. The walls close in with every step up, and women are likely to slip down the pecking order when it comes to pay,” Francke told the committee.

Francke was referencing the CMI’s Annual National Management Salary Survey, which reveals the gender pay gap progressively widens as women get older.

For those aged 26 to 35, the gap is smaller and currently stands at 6 per cent and for those aged 36 to 45 it is 20 per cent.

Overall the pay gap in management stands at £8,524 – with women earning an average of £30,612 compared to the £39,136 that men earn. The gap rises to £14,943 for director-level women. Here, women earn an average of £123,756 compared to their male counterparts who earn £138,699.

Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.