Gender pay gap: Female Fortune 500 CEOs more qualified, paid less Females executives are held to a higher standard, a new report says. WOMEN are gaining ground in the workplace, but have to work harder than men to get there, according to a new study. A report by the American Management Association, which examined the management of the top 500 companies in the US, found that while 4.8 per cent of CEOs are female, they are "systematically more qualified" than their male counterparts. Women were found to have be 33 per cent more likely to have a university degree, with 36 per cent of female versus 28 per cent of male Fortune 500 CEOs holding undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Hewlett-Packard president and CEO Meg Whitman is turning around the company. It also found that female CEOs who had attended college or graduate schools performed better than their male CEOs on average. To top it off, women "typically have more work and life experience" when first appointed to the top job, according to the study - the average age at appointment for females is 52.8 years old versus 50.2 for males. Despite all this, female execs are still struggling to achieve equal pay. The report found only 1.1 per cent of women earn more than $A175,000, compared with 4 per cent of men. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer was Google's first female engineer in 1999. "These statistics seem to show that women are held to different if not more demanding standards than men," said Jeremey Donovan, chief marketing officer for the AMA, who authored the report. What we learned suggests this applies to women at all levels. Women are also more likely to work their way up the corporate ladder. Only 20 per cent of female CEOs were appointed from outside the company, versus 26 per cent of males. The rising number of women Fortune 500 CEOs is a sign of progress. However, the American Management Association's analysis of CEO education indicates that the largest companies in America still have a long way to go," wrote Mr Donovan. PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has boosted the company's earnings. The news comes as the major parties in Germany agree to a mandatory quota system for top positions. Germany's leading companies will need to have at least 30 per cent women on their supervisory boards from 2016, according to a new directive being adopted by the government, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday. The leaders of Germany's Social Democrats and Merkel's conservative bloc agreed on the measure at a late-night meeting Tuesday. A bill will be put to Cabinet on December 11, she said. Currently, women hold just 22 per cent of non-executive positions on the boards of companies listed in Germany's benchmark DAX 30 index, according to Economy Ministry figures. They hold just six per cent of management board posts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has successfully pushed for a quota system. The new plan will affect 100 listed companies starting 2016. Companies that fail to recruit enough women to non-executive boardroom posts will be barred from giving vacant seats to men. Introducing a women's quota was one of the centre-left Social Democrats" demands for entering into a coalition with Merkel's conservatives. Germany has lagged far behind other European countries in terms of female representation in the boardroom. Norway, Spain, Iceland and France already have similar quota requirements. Here are the AMA's 10 tips for organisations to develop female leaders: Start with a comprehensive audit of your compensation policies and practices to ensure that discrimination - either overt or unintentional - isn't occurring. Establish written compensation guidelines, including commissions and bonuses. Review hiring practices, especially starting salaries. Educate organisational leaders about gender pay gaps and encourage them to support female career development. IBM chairman Ginni Rometty has been with the company for more than 30 years. Expand women's networking opportunities through internal affinity groups, lunch and learns, and company events. Create an individualised leadership development plan with every employee. Assign a mentor. Women who make it to the top often rise up through the ranks of their companies. Internal relationships help women navigate the politics of an organisation and expose them to new opportunities. Provide private coaching. While mentoring from managers is fairly common, professional coaching is offered by just 15 per cent of employers. Employees often benefit from outside advice and counsel. Outgoing Westpac CEO Gail Kelly is leaving on a high note. Invest in training that emphasises experiential learning, especially for the "soft" skills. It's often said that women and men communicate differently, and these subtle differences are often touted as reasons why women are not chosen for leadership roles. Establish stretch projects and guidelines to ensure that projects designed to groom future leaders are assigned fairly. Women need experience with high-profile and complex projects to build confidence, credibility, and gain visibility within the organisation. Offer flexible work arrangements. Acknowledge that people have a life outside of work and sometimes are in situations where work/life balance becomes more challenging. This is a particular issue for women who are often put in the caregiver role for their children or an elderly parent, though increasingly this role is shared by men. Focus on global skills. Leaders today must deal with multinational teams on a regular basis and need global skills, including knowledge of local practices, cultural sensitivity, and sophisticated communication techniques. Only 19 per cent of companies feel they are adequately training their employees to handle this global shift. Source: American Management Association Originally published as What's really holding you back at work