Executive gender pay gap diminishes over time—but doesn’t disappear

Study shows up to half the initial pay gap for female executives is eroded over the first six years of tenure, but a “residual gap” persists.

Image: MJgraphics/Shutterstock
Gender pay gaps diminish over time as employers learn more about their newly appointed executives. The bad news is that improved knowledge does not remove the executive gender pay gap entirely.
Those are the findings in new research from academics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, after analysing the data of 15,000 executives in 18 countries across Europe from 2002–2015.
There is more to worry about. Swarnodeep HomRoy and Shibashish Mukherjee find that on average the gender pay gap across the executives in their sample amounts to 34%. They also unearth big differences between sectors: an average gap of 57% in banking
For thoughtful journalism, expert insights on corporate governance and an extensive library of reports, guides and tools to help boards and directors navigate the complexities of their roles, subscribe to Board Agenda