Job of the Day: Female CEO

The Wall Street Journal puts a tepidly positive spin on the news that female CEOs still make less than male ones, despite better-than-average performance:

More women are running America’s top companies and, in terms of pay, they may be closing in a bit on the men. At 300 of the largest U.S.-traded public companies, chief executives earned a median of $11.4 million last year, according to a Wall Street Journal compensation survey conducted by consulting firm Hay Group. Fourteen of those companies had women in the corner office — eight of whom earned more than the median pay and six of whom earned less.

The women also performed a little better than the broader group, with eight achieving better than the median gain in corporate profit. The female CEOs delivered a median total shareholder return of 36%, versus 34% for the full survey. …

TJMaxx Cos. chief Carol Meyrowitz topped the highest-paid list among the women in the Journal survey, with a compensation package valued at $20.6 million. The company, which owns off-price chains T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods, paid her more than all but 26 other CEOs in the survey, but still less than half of what the top-paid men received.

At least the trend is positive:

Surveys that include CEOs of smaller companies, both publicly and private held, show women making strides in pay, though a gap persists. Female CEOs earned nearly 80% of their male counterparts’ compensation in 2013, according to a study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research based on Labor Department data. Two years ago, women who were CEOs earned 69% of what men who were CEOs were paid.

Even at the very top levels, five decades after the Equal Pay Act of 1963, inequality remains rampant. Incredible. Somewhere, Jill Abramson is lacing up her boxing gloves.

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