Last year, the pay of female CEOs increased by 26%. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of gender equality in executive positions.

 

Last year, the pay of female CEOs increased by 26%. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of gender equality in executive positions.

Last year, compensation for top female CEOs increased dramatically, signalling progress toward greater gender parity in business leadership.

According to an annual CEO salary report released Thursday by Equilar, a source of corporate leadership data, and the Associated Press, women CEOs of S&P 500 businesses were paid a median of $15.8 million in 2021, a 26.4 per cent rise from the previous year.

Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, was the highest-paid female CEO on the list in 2021, earning $29.5 million. Mary Barra of General Motors came in second with $29.1 million, followed by Phebe Novakovic of General Dynamics with $23.6 million.

Male CEOs of S&P companies, on the other hand, earned slightly less than their female counterparts, with a median salary of $14.4 million, up 17.7% from the previous year.

The pay packages of 340 CEOs from S&P 500 businesses were used to compile the report. Only 18 of the executives were female, an increase of two from the previous year's report.

The increased salary for female CEOs, according to Lorraine Hariton, CEO of global charity Catalyst, which pushes for better inclusion of women in the workplace, is a promising sign that the gender gap in the C-suite is decreasing.

This raise in women CEO salaries in 2021 is a show of thoughtfulness and accountability at the board level to guarantee pay equity, she told Fortune. However, there is still a long way to go in terms of achieving wage parity across enterprises."

Companies are increasingly more public in their promises to advance women in the workplace and to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion goals in general, according to Hariton. She went on to say that the increased visibility includes checking in on those goals on a regular basis. Some organisations have committed to pay equity audits to measure and assure equal compensation for equal labour, Hariton said.

Another indicator of progress is the fact that this year's Fortune 500, which rates the top U.S. corporations by sales, has a record number of women-led businesses. There were 44 female CEOs on the list this year, three more than the year before.

Despite this, women still make up a small percentage of such positions, accounting for only 8.8% of CEO posts. Women of colour, in particular, are largely excluded from the country's highest leadership posts.

This year, there were just two Black women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies: Roz Brewer of Walgreens Boots Alliance and Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA.