Pandemic freezes gains for women in management positions

Women make up 14.3% of all management positions in Catalonia, according to a study released on Wednesday by ICSA and EADA Business School group. Women in these roles also earn 17.7% less than their male coworkers. The Covid-19 pandemic has frozen gains towards equality as the report states.

As for non-management position figures, women hold up to 39.9% of intermediate roles and represent 47% of all employees.

In both cases, intermediate roles have a 9.7% gender pay gap difference, while for workers as a whole this is 15%. 

The report points out that only 16.8% of women are in management positions across Spain, two percentage points less than in 2021. However, 0.4 percentage points more than in 2020, when 16.4% did. 

"Covid has shown that we could have evolved thanks to different available tools. However, we are stepping back to pre-pandemic models," Indry Canchila, consultant at ICSA, said during a press conference on Wednesday. "The women quota is drastically affected," she added.

In Spain, female CEOs are at the helm of 8.8% of companies, meaning that under 1 in 10 women are in management positions. "The number has not changed for years," the report points out.  

Salary-wise, in Spain, males in leadership positions earn an average of €88,129 annually, while women only receive €77,928 for the same position, €11,000 less. 

For the report, ICSA and EADA Business School checked the salaries of 80,000 people.