WOMEN managers continue to earn far less than their equivalent male counterparts with a new survey showing a pay gap of £5,980 between the sexes.

According to the Chartered Management Institute Gender Salary Survey men working in professional management roles earn 18 per cent than women in the North-East.

The average salary for men is £32,625 and for women £26,735.

Nationally, female managers are earning only three-quarters (77%) of what men in full-time comparable jobs earn – a 23 per cent gender pay gap.

The CMI, which compiled the figures with salary specialists XpertHR, surveying more than 68,000 professional managers across the UK and 7,300 in the North-East, claimed there was a “pay crisis” hitting female managers in the region.

Ann Francke, chief executive of CMI, said: “Lower levels of pay for women managers cannot be justified, yet our extensive data shows the pay gap remains a reality for too many women in the North-East.

“ Women and men should be paid on the basis of their performance in their particular roles, but this is clearly not yet the case for far too many.

“We have to stamp out cultures that excuse this as the result of time out for motherhood and tackle gender bias in pay policies that put too much emphasis on time served.”

She said CMI was calling on employers to measure and report on the percentage of women at each level of management within their company and what they are paid.

XpertHR’s head of salary surveys Mark Crail, added: “Women begin to fall behind at the age when they are most likely to be starting a family and it just gets worse from then on. It appears that employers often give up on women in mid-career and are missing out on a huge pool of untapped knowledge, experience and talent.”