The pay gap in management positions widens after seven years of decline

BarcelonaAfter seven years of narrowing, the gender pay gap in management positions worsened in the last year, according to the latest edition of the report. Gender pay gap and the presence of women in management positions 2025, presented this Tuesday and prepared by the ICSA group in collaboration with the Eada business school, based on 80,000 salaries collected throughout Spain. According to the study, the average current salary of a male manager is €95,541 gross per year, while female managers earn €84,647, a difference of 12.9%, which has increased by 1.7% in the last year.

"Despite progress in the presence of women in leadership positions, barriers persist in historically masculinized sectors and in senior management in general. Occupational segregation and the penalty for flexibility continue to restrict women's access to these spaces, and this limits not only their advancement, but also their promotion." In her view, to aspire to "true equality," it is not enough to simply increase the number of women in positions of power; rather, "it is essential to transform labor structures to ensure that their access and professional development do not entail a salary penalty or unfair concessions."

As for the gaps in other positions within the company, the report finds that this difference is 11.6% in middle management (men earn 43,702 euros compared to 39,159 for women) and 9.7% in rank-and-file workers (28). Female representation is much lower in management (16.9% of female directors) than in management, where women make up a third, and is almost equal when it comes to employees (47.2%).

More women in communications and human resources

Considering the different types of management positions, the study reveals that only 9.2% of women in Spain reach the top management positions. However, there are some specific areas in companies with a higher proportion of women, such as communications management, where they hold 40.9% of positions, followed by human resources management (34.6%) and marketing management (32.5%). There are traditionally male-dominated management positions, such as production management (5.8%) and technology management (5.1%), where the presence of women is still minimal.