Taking bold action on our gender pay gap

We are committed to increasing the diversity of our community and reducing our gender pay gap continues to be an institutional priority for us. This year we have seen an 0.4% decrease in the mean gender pay gap to 16.1%, but I am disappointed to report that we have also seen a 2.4% increase in the median gender pay gap to 18.6%, which is equivalent to its 2017 level. This setback comes after three consecutive years of a shrinking gender pay gap and shows us that we must continue to take bold actions to underpin the changes necessary for a long-term, sustainable reduction in the gap between male and female pay.

Our analysis revealed that the main driver of the gender pay gap is influenced by the numbers of male staff in highly paid academic roles. The imbalance in distribution of men and women throughout the organisation, with a greater concentration of women in roles at the lower end of our pay scales, and men in roles at the higher end, contributes to the current gender pay gap. In departments with flatter grade distributions by gender there is a smaller gender pay gap and in those with larger imbalances there is a greater gender pay gap.

In January 2020 we began working with all departments to achieve a 60/40 gender distribution of men to women in every grade to help us flatten this imbalance. We know that this target is not ideal, but it is a good first step and would lead to the mean gender pay gap being reduced to 9.3% and the median to around 11.1%. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has limited our ability to affect this distribution through positive action in recruitment, but we will continue to work with departments to achieve this goal by 2025.

Despite these frustrations, we continue to place great importance on supporting women’s development in the workplace and identifying visible role models at all levels of the organisation. As part of this work, we are reviewing the nominations process for our Future and Strategic Leaders programmes to ensure that selection and decision-making is as inclusive as possible.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has limited our ability to reduce the gender pay gap through positive action in recruitment, it has enabled us to further support our flexible working agenda. Requiring staff to work from home has led to a swift change in attitudes towards flexible working, which is likely to have a positive effect on the gender pay gap over time. We are committed to building a more agile and flexible working culture that is responsive to emerging issues and supportive of our staff, encouraging people to work flexibly as appropriate to their role and business needs.

It is important to remember that whilst the gender pay gap is a useful tool when measuring our progress towards an inclusive and fair workplace, it also requires us to consider gender as a binary concept. We know that many members of our community identify outside the gender binary and/or as trans, and we remain committed to creating a welcoming and enabling environment for all members of our community, regardless of any characteristic.

You can read the full 2021 Gender Pay Gap report on our Staff Directory.