The gender gap in top corporate jobs

Using the ExecuComp data set, which contains information on the five highes t-paid executives in each of a large number of U.S. firms for the years 199 2-97, the authors examine the gender compensation gap among high-level exec utives. Women, who represented about 2.5% of the sample, earned about 45% l ess than men. As much as 75% of this gap can be explained by the fact that women managed smaller companies and were less likely to be CEO, Chair, or c ompany President. The unexplained gap falls to less than 5% with an allowan ce for the younger average age and lower average seniority of the female ex ecutives. These results do not rule out the possibility of discrimination v ia gender segregation or unequal promotion. Between 1992 and 1997, however, women nearly tripled their participation in the top executive ranks and al so strongly improved their relative compensation, mostly by gaining represe ntation in larger corporations.