“A feeling of injustice”: female executives paid less than their male counterparts, an inequality that persists

La discrimination à l’encontre des cadres féminins croît avec l’âge : la différence de salaire est limitée à 2 % chez les moins de 35 ans mais atteint 21 % chez les 55 ans et plus. ibreakstock/Shutterstock

The pay gap to the detriment of women among executives has not narrowed significantly for five years, according to a study published Tuesday by the Association pour l’emploi des cadres (Apec).

The difference with their male colleagues, measured for the same position and profile, had reduced from 8.5% to 7.1% between 2015 and 2019 (-1.4 points), but has decreased very little since then and still stands at 6.9% in 2024, according to the latest annual Apec barometer carried out on a representative sample of 14,000 executives.

And since men occupy more senior positions in the corporate hierarchy than women – they are only 21% in general management – ​​the pay gap is actually 12%.

Discrimination against female executives increases with age: the pay gap is limited to 2% for those under 35 but reaches 21% for those aged 55 and over.

“A feeling of injustice”

More than a third (35%) of female executives believe that they have been held back in their professional lives over the past five years because of being a woman, according to an online survey conducted by Apec among a sample of 2,000 private sector executives in March.

And nearly half of them (49%) experience “a feeling of injustice” as for their remuneration, compared to 40% of men, according to a similar survey last December.

They have more often than men difficulty reconciling their professional and personal lives, especially when they have children under five.

When a child is sick, 44% of executive mothers say they provide “most often” care, compared to only 16% of executive fathers. 30% of them acknowledge that the child is most often looked after by the other parent, compared to only 6% of mothers.

More than half of female executives (54%) feel “an intense level of stress” at work or even “a feeling of professional burnout“, compared to 43% of men for stress and 42% for burnout, according to an Apec survey dating from June.

Finally, sexist behavior persists within companies with 45% of women and 35% of male executives saying they have witnessed it “at least from time to time”.