Most of the women in charge of large corporations in the United States had wage increases last year, despite the layers induced by the coronavirus pandemic in the economy and many of their jobs. However, average wages for female executives decreased in 2020.

Already being a small group, there was also an exit of several high-profile executives last year. This means that wage changes for a few figures skewed in the overall numbers, highlighting how slowly the gender diversity has progressed at the nation’s highest corporate levels.

Of the 342 CEOs in the AP and Equilar pay survey of S&P 500 companies, only 16 were women. That’s down from 20 a year ago. The study only includes CEOs who have held their positions for at least two fiscal years in their companies, to avoid distortions from hiring bonuses. Corporations also had to file tax returns between January 1 and April 30.

Most female CEOs in this year’s survey got an increase in compensation: 81% (13 out of 16), compared to 60% of men in the survey, but Duke Energy’s CEO, Lynn Good, got a 3% pay cut. To $ 14.3 million. She is on the middle of the scale among the women in the survey, helping to set the median wage at 13.6 million.

This is a decrease of 1.9% from the average achieved by the same executives in the previous year. It compares to an average of $ 12.6 million for CEOs surveyed, representing a 5.2% increase over the previous year. The average overall survey was $ 12.7 million.

Although the number of women in the survey decreased last year, experts say change is happening, albeit very slow, as companies still fail to recognize more women and prepare them for the position.

“It’s a slow process,” said Lauren Harreton, president and CEO of Catalyst, a nonprofit that seeks to advance the advancement of women in the workplace. But the reasons are that we still deal with cultures laden with unconscious biases. Building a female CEO career takes time. “

Lisa Su, CEO of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, tops the list with a $ 27.1 million compensation package. This includes a salary of just over $ 1 million, a cash bonus of $ 2.5 million, and shares and options of approximately $ 23.5 million. AMD stocks nearly doubled in 2020 after being the top performer of the S&P 500 in the past two years.