Female executives must work 47 more days a year to earn the same as men.

BarcelonaTwo decades of measurements have not been enough to break the glass ceiling in Spanish companies, according to the 20th edition of the report. Gender pay gap and women's presence in management positions 2026According to a study presented by ICSA Grupo and EADA Business School, senior management remains a predominantly male domain. Although female representation has increased from 16.9% in 2006 to the current 18.6%, economic inequality persists and has even worsened at the highest levels of responsibility. The most striking conclusion of the study, based on 80,000 salary data points, is that a female executive must work 47 more days per year to earn the same salary as her male counterpart. Over the past 20 years, the gap at the top of organizations has grown from 8.5% to the current 13%. This trend contrasts sharply with the entry-level employee category, the only one where the salary difference has decreased during this period, now standing at 9.8%. "The debate is no longer solely about access, but about how power is recognized economically," notes Dr. Aline Masuda, a researcher at EADA. The report highlights a paradox: while women now make up the majority of executive education students (51.6% in the current course), this talent does not translate into equivalent pay as they climb the corporate ladder.

Sectoral bias and the weight of SMEs

The analysis by department reveals a clear segregation. Female presence is notable in communications (42.8%) and human resources (35.8%), but is almost negligible in critical areas such as IT (5.1%) and sales (7.9%). By company size, small organizations have driven the most growth in female leadership this past year, with an increase of 4.3%. In contrast, large companies saw a decline of 4.1%. A determining factor is that equality legislation only applies to companies with more than 50 employees, leaving 98.8% of the country's businesses out of the equation.