Women CFOs earn just half of men's salaries

Women working in financial services in the US are paid 40% less than men on average, according to a survey of more than 2,500 staff by CareerBank.com, a recruitment website.

Female staff with PhDs bucked the trend, receiving slightly higher pay than men. But women CFOs received only half the salary of their male counterparts.

Unqualified men were paid 75% more than their female counterparts.

The overall gap in favour of men could be linked to women often giving up work when they have a family and moving jobs to follow male partners, CareerBank suggested.

The survey found that, relative to men, a high proportion of women had been in their current position for less than one year; and relatively few had been in their position for more than five years.

A disproportionate number of women cited relocation as the reason for their most recent job move.