According to new research from the Chartered Management Institute and XpertHR, men in the UK are 40% more likely than women to be promoted in management roles.

The survey also showed that 14% of male managers were given higher positions compared to 10% of women. For managers who had been working for the same employer for the past five years, 47% of men were promoted compared to 39% of women.

The research found the difference in promotion rates was one of the main causes of the gender pay gap, which widened this year to 23.1% compared to 22.8% in 2015.

The average salary for a male manager is £38,817, which is £8,964 more than that of the average female manager.

For directors and CEOs, men earn an average basic salary of £131,673, which is £16,513 more than women at the same level.

“Promoting men ahead of women is keeping us all back,” Ann Francke, chief executive of CMI, said. “Diversity delivers better financial results, better culture and better decision making. Even before the new regulations kick in, employers need to get on board with reporting on their recruitment and promotion policies and how much they pay their men and women. Transparency and targets are what we need to deal with stubborn problems like the gender pay gap.”

The report comes ahead of plans for new Government regulations that plan to tackle the pay gap by making it compulsory for large companies to report on how much they pay their male and female staff. The regulations are due to come into effect in April 2017.

“The gender pay gap is not primarily about men and women being paid differently for doing the same job. It’s much more about men being present in greater numbers than women the higher up the organisation you go,” Mark Crail, content director at XpertHR, said. “Our research shows that this gap begins to open up at relatively junior levels and widens – primarily because men are more likely to be promoted.”

Moreover, the average men’s bonus stands at £5,398 compared to women’s £2,764. For more senior roles the gap grows, with 54% of male senior managers receiving a bonus compared to 38% females of the same level of seniority. At this level, men command an average bonus of £22,687 compared to women’s £13,699.