The gender pay gap for FTSE 100 directors has increased with the average pay for female directors now £246,000 (USD$299,000), 74% less than the average for FTSE 100 male directors at £935,000, according to research by Mattison Public Relations.
This gender pay gap has widened from 73% to 74% since last year.
In the last 12 months, average pay for male FTSE 100 directors grew by 7% (£59,000) compared to a 4% rise (£9,000) for their female counterparts.
This pay gap is considerably higher than the overall UK average where women receive 15.4% less than men on average in the broader job market, according to the Office for National Statistics (2021).
The large pay gap in FTSE 100 directors is because men are chosen for most higher-paid executive director roles. Only 34 of the 238 FTSE 100 executive positions (14%) are currently filled by women. Women make up 393 of the 896 non-executive FTSE 100 roles (43%).
In executive roles, the average FTSE 100 director is paid £2.7m, but non-executive roles average only £137,000 per year.
The majority of positions filled by women are the lower-paid non-executive roles. Women non-executives were paid on average £101,000 last year, while male non-executives were paid £166,000.
Mattison Public Relations director Maria Hughes said: “Having female senior executives is a much more powerful way to communicate that a business is taking diversity seriously. Businesses must appoint women to their senior executive teams and enable women to progress through the ranks more quickly if they want to be perceived as taking this seriously as opposed to box-ticking.”
The only woman to feature in the top 50 highest paid FTSE 100 directors was Emma Walmsley, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline.
