Women working as consultants face bigger pay gaps than women in IT, finance, retail or the public and voluntary sectors, according to a report.

Personnel Today reports a poll of more than 2,400 executives earning more than £50,000 a year in these sectors, found men earned an average of 19 percent extra than their female equivalents.

In the consulting industry, men earned 35 percent more than women and in the financial and IT sectors, male executives are on 20 percent more than female peers.

In retail the wage gap is 11 percent and in public and charity organisations it was six percent.

Torsten Muth, managing director of Experteer.co.uk who compiled the poll, said: "Despite the continuous effort by equality campaigners and the government, it is frustrating to see women are still struggling to be treated equally in the workplace.

"We've seen more women feeling that they have hit the glass ceiling, and some of them end up leaving work completely. As a result, employers are losing out as they lose some of their most talented workers.

"Organisations should make more effort to change the work culture and to create a fair work environment for both men and women."