ONE of Scotland biggest broadcasters is the latest to come under fire for reporting a gender pay gap among its staff.

In a new report, STV said that its female staff received on average nearly one fifth less than its male staff.

It follows a number of disputes around gender pay inequality which have blighted the sector in recent months.

Equality campaigners say that more "concrete actions" were needed to tackle the issue.

The BBC, in particular, has been embroiled in highly publicised accusations from female presenters and journalists, including former BBC China editor Carrie Gracie and tennis star Martina Navratilova.

STV has now revealed its own pay disparity between male and female employees, reporting a median gender pay gap of 17.3 per cent, which is only just below the UK average of18.4 per cent.

Fellow broadcaster Sky also revealed it has a median gender pay gap of 17.5 per cent across its entire organisation.

Channel 4, reported a gap even higher of 24.2 per cent, despite its workforce being nearly 60 per cent female.

STV, Sky and Channel 4 all blamed the pay discrepancy on the dominance of men in senior positions.

STV, which serves the majority of Scotland, employs 538 staff across six UK locations,

It stated that a "higher proportion of men are employed in senior management and leadership roles".

Across the corporation, the gender split of staff is 49 per cent men and 51 per cent women, however in the top group of earners, 70 per cent are men and 30 per cent women.

To address the issue, the broadcaster said that it would introduce a target to achieve gender balance in the top 25 per cent of roles by earnings within five years, "as well as continuing to progress a programme of measures to improve diversity and inclusion".

"This includes widening the pool in recruitment activities; focusing on opportunities for accelerated career development; extending family friendly policies and further training across the organisation to raise awareness of unconscious bias," it stated.

According to Scottish equality charity, Close the Gap, the gender pay gap goes beyond the principle of equal pay for equal work and the legal definition of equal pay.

Those wishing to address the imbalance must also combat issues which include gender stereotyping and workplace cultures, a lack of quality part-time and flexible work, and hefty childcare costs.

Executive Director Anna Ritchie Allan, said that one of the major stumbling blocks to closing the pay gap is that many employers are unduly complacent and think they’re already providing equal pay.

She added: "We know from the experience of the Scottish public sector, where employers already publish their pay gap, that reporting alone doesn’t create change. Targets are a good starting point, but this be underpinned by concrete actions that will address the specific causes of a company’s pay gap"

The BBC has previously reported a median gap of 9.3 per cent of its male and female staff however it has attracted widespread criticism for huge disparities in pay between some of it's top earners.

Last year, Radio 2's Chris Evans was revealed to be the highest paid male presenter at more than £2 million, compared to the highest paid woman, Claudia Winkleman, who is on between £450,000 and £499,999.

Some 40 senior women journalists and presenters, including Scotland Editor Sarah Smith, signed a letter to Director-General Tony Hall demanding immediate action on unequal pay.

Earlier this year, BBC China editor Carrie Gracie, resigned from her role in protest at inequality while more recently tennis legend Martina Navratilova, has hit out after discovering fellow Wimbledon pundit John McEnroe is paid at least 10 times more than her.

STV said it employs 538 staff across six UK locations, including 483 permanent (including 61 part-time), 14 fixed-term (including 1 part-time) and 34 freelance.

Sky said it is introducing representation targets in leadership, technology and home service to reach by 2020 to close the gap.