Gender pay reversal identified by directors' fee survey
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123RF
A survey on directors' fees has thrown up a surprise, showing female directors are earning more than their male counterparts in private sector boardrooms.
The survey
, by Strategic Pay, said female non-executive directors receive 17.2 percent more in fees on average.
Managing director Cathy Hendry believes more women achieving higher positions in large listed companies is driving the change, but thinks there is more work to be done on gender balance on boards.
"We have seen female directors increasing in terms of representation across the whole sample year-on-year, which is great to see.
"The public sector is leading the way. You've almost got 50-50 percent representation male/females in the public sector [boards]. Its significantly lower in the private sector."
The survey showed just 36 percent of private sector board directors were female, and just 21 percent were non-executive chairs.
The survey highlighted a stark difference in the pay of directors on listed company boards compared to unlisted and private company boards.
On average, directors on listed company boards earned 59 percent than their unlisted counterparts.
Directors' fees were also increasing above the rate of inflation. Listed company directors' fees increased by just over 10 percent last year, while unlisted company directors say their fees increase by 8 percent on average.
Hendry noted however that directors' fees had been static since Covid-19, and the rises were more of a catch-up.
The pay gap between directors on private company boards and those on public sector boards was also pronounced, with those on listed company boards earning on average twice as much.
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