A concerning trend has emerged in Europe's financial sector, where the pay disparity between male and female board members has reached its highest point in six years. According to the latest data from global consultancy EY, female non-executive directors at banks, insurers, and asset managers in Europe earned just 62% of what their male counterparts did in 2024. This marks a decline from 65% in 2023 and represents the largest gap since EY began tracking this data in 2019.
Representation Rises, But Pay Parity Falls
This widening pay gap is particularly striking because it comes at a time when more women are being appointed to board positions. EY's research found that women now constitute 41% of non-executive roles in the European financial industry in 2024, a significant increase of 6 percentage points since 2020. This clear disconnect highlights that increased representation does not automatically lead to fair compensation.
Omar Ali, EY's Global Financial Services Leader, commented on the findings, stating, "The widening gender pay gap in Europe’s largest financial firms is a stark reminder that greater representation does not directly translate into pay parity. While board-level gender diversity is rising, it is at a slow pace and tapers with age."
A Global and Generational Pay Divide
The problem is not confined to Europe. At a global level, female board directors at financial services firms were paid 22% less than men in 2024, with average remuneration of $252,672 compared to $325,402 for men. This global gap has seen little change over the past five years.
EY's Global Financial Services Boardroom Monitor, which tracks pay in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, revealed a more positive picture in North America. There, women non-executives earned 94% of male pay, holding steady from the previous year. Their representation also grew to 38%, up 6 points in four years.
The report also uncovered a growing pay premium for older board members. In Europe, non-executives aged 70 and over earned 24% more, while in Asia-Pacific the premium soared to 43%. The gap was smallest in the US and Canada, at 8%. Ali noted that while valuing experience is understandable, in a sector where digital expertise is crucial, those skills are often found in younger candidates.
Technology Skills: A Potential Path to Balance
There may be a silver lining that could help bridge this gap. Separate research by 25X25, a London-based women's leadership advocacy group, suggests that the financial industry's urgent need for technology and transformation skills could benefit women. Tara Cemlyn-Jones, founder and CEO of 25X25, revealed that women currently make up just over half of all board members with relevant tech and transformation backgrounds.
"An investment in this skillset is therefore likely to also result in better executive gender-balance," she said. This indicates that focusing on crucial modern competencies, rather than traditional tenure, could be a key driver for achieving both talent and pay equity in the boardrooms of the future.
