Women make further inroads into management

The number of women in management positions is growing significantly, and there is evidence that their pay is increasing too.

The National management salary survey, published by the Chartered Management Institute and Remuneration Economics, shows that 31% of managers are now female, compared to 22% in 2000 and fewer than 2% when the survey began in 1974.

More than a quarter (26%) of department heads are now women, up from 19% in 2000, and 38% of team leaders are female (27% in 2000).

Women managers' salaries rose by an average of 5% in the last year, compared to 4.7% for male managers. And in one type of management role, research and development, women's average salary is higher than men's (£45,100 compared to £44,347).

But the good news ends there: in the other nine categories of management jobs, men still earn more. For example, women in general management earn 92% of the male average, and among human resources/personnel managers, women's average pay is still 83% of men's (£41,035 a year, compared to £49,161).

The turnover of female managers has fallen in the past year, from 6.4% to 5.3%. The trend for men is in the opposite direction, with resignations rising from 3.3% to 4.2%.