Shareholders at Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo this week voted down proxy proposals asking them to reveal more data on their gender pay gaps. Though activists lost those votes, they say they are gaining ground in the battle for gender pay equity.

Arjuna Capital, an investment firm specializing in sustainable and ethical investing, guided the proposals onto the proxy ballots at the annual meetings of Bank of America on April 24 and Wells Fargo on April 23. The proposals won 26 percent of the vote at Bank of America, and 23 percent at Wells Fargo—up from 15 percent in 2017, when pay equity first appeared on the ballots.