The number of women on company boards in Europe has nearly doubled, with 40% of directors now represented by females, according to new research by the Belgium-based Vlerick Business School.

In contrast, 22% of women were board directors in 2014. However, the research found that female CEOs continue to lag, growing from 3.2% in 2014 to just 8% in 2023, the latest data available.

“As we continue to examine the landscape of executive remuneration in Europe, it’s clear that progress, while slow, has been made in increasing gender diversity among top leadership,” researcher Xavier Baeten, a professor in reward and governance at Vlerick Business School, said in a press release.

Conducted since 2014, the annual CEO Remuneration study analyses data on the STOXX Europe 600, a stock market index that lists 600 of the biggest publicly traded companies from 17 European countries.

The researchers also found that CEO remuneration jumped by €1 million since 2014, with the median total salary package totalling €3.8 million in 2023, up from €2.8 million in 2014.

Meanwhile, 43% of STOXX Europe 600 firms now include environmental key performance indicators in their CEO bonus schemes, rising from 5% in 2014, according to the research.

“This shift reflects a growing complexity of compensation structures in the last 10 years, aligning executive compensation with broader societal and environmental goals,” Baeten  said.