Women wield more influence in the workplace, but pay gap grows

Females in executive manager positions are sometimes earning less than half the salaries of their male counterparts in equivalent chief executive and finance roles, new research from the Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace agency shows.

But women in executive roles are also increasing their influence in corporate committees, the new Beyond the 2008 EOWA Australian Census of Women in Leadership study claims.

The new report reveals women earn 60.7% less than men in chief executive officer positions, 54.3% less in finance positions and 68% less in ‘other line or function’ positions.

Figures also show that while the number of ASX200 executive managers classed as ‘key management personnel’ increased from 66.1% to 75.7% from 2006-08, only 7% of these executives are women.

The median remuneration for women in these roles is $642,297, compared to $895,725 for men – a gender pay gap of 28.3%, far higher than the national average of 17.2%.

A separate survey in the report found the median salary for new female graduates is just 95.7% of male graduates, and that “therefore, there is a gender pay gap from the moment young women enter the workforce”.

“Given that women make up 62.7% of bachelor degree graduates, 35.5% of the full-time Australian workforce and 7.0% of ASX200 key management personnel, it could be concluded that as women’s representation at different levels of the workforce decreases, the gender pay gap increases,” the report says.

“Where female executives in support roles earn 37.4% less than their male equivalents, those in line management positions earn 10.4% less than the male equivalent.”

EOWA director Mairi Steele told the Australian Financial Review that the figures are disappointing and more companies should pay attention to pay equity.

“It’s business that needs to change, and we encourage organisations to monitor and keep statistics about pay, who is being sent on training courses, to do pay-equity audits and to ensure that their recruitment and selection processes are free from bias and discrimination,” she said.

But there is some good news for women in executive positions. The new figures also show that median remuneration for the 826 non-executive board directors within the ASX200 is $145,030.

Women board directors are now earning 7.7% more than their male equivalents in these positions at a median remuneration of $154,181, compared to the median remuneration for males at $143.180.

“Overall, it is evident that there is more or less gender parity regarding remuneration for board directors in ASX200 companies. There are two explanations for this. First, a greater percentage of women are on boards of larger companies, which have higher remuneration rates.”

“Second, board remuneration tends to be fixed for a given position rather than negotiated individually.”

The new figures also show that when females have been appointed to executive boards they wield as much influence as their male counterparts.

The figures show that among the 89 women who hold board seats in the ASX200, 49.4% chair at least one board committee, compared to just 32.9% of male board directors. But altogether, women only make up 11% of board committee chairs.