‘What meritocracy?’: Disappointment as marketing’s gender pay gap widens
As our Career & Salary Survey data reveals widening pay disparity, what can be done to make tackling marketing’s 17.8% gender pay gap as a matter of urgency?
A persistent and growing gender pay gap is at odds with an industry as outwardly progressive, creatively minded and solution focused as marketing.
However, female marketers are paid on average 17.8% less than their male peers, according to Marketing Week’s exclusive 2025 Career & Salary Survey. This figure is based on a sample of more than 3,500 marketers – 59.9% of whom are female – and is up on the 16% pay gap revealed in 2024.
Our analysis finds a gender pay gap at every level of seniority, apart from for junior managers where the pay gap is -3.16%.
According to the data, female marketing executives are paid 7.04% less than their male peers, rising to 14.53% for senior executives. The survey reveals female marketers are paid less than their male colleagues as managers (11.58%), senior managers (6.24%) and marketing directors/vice-presidents (3.68%).
