Gender pay gap report 2017

This is a new report on the gender pay gap at the University of St Andrews as at 31 March 2017, utilising a framework provided by the UK Government.

The University of St Andrews has published information on Gender pay by salary band since 2013, in line with the 2012 Scottish Specific Duties under the 2010 Equalities Act, as part of the biennial Equality Mainstreaming Reports.

In 2017, the UK Government introduced new regulations requiring all organisations with more than 250 staff to calculate and publish their Gender Pay Gap data.

The Gender Pay Gap is the difference between the average hourly pay of men and women across the whole organisation. It is not the same as the concept of Equal Pay which means that men and women in the same organisation are paid the same rate for like work as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Although these new regulations do not apply to employers in Scotland and Wales, the University of St Andrews has produced a gender pay analysis, which is published on the UK Government’s dedicated website, that will allow direct and meaningful comparison with those organisations, including almost 200 universities.

The information in this report provides the mean and median gender pay gaps for the organisation as a whole, and broken down by grade. Figures have been calculated using the technical specifications set out by the UK Government Equalities Office and are not directly comparable with the previously published figures. Historically, the University published gender pay gap data by grade, and used a methodology that looked at basic annual salary, as opposed to the hourly rates of pay required by the UK Government guidelines. The latter also require the University to take into account allowances, pay for leave, and any salary sacrifice payments being deducted.

The University has no contractual bonus arrangements.

The University is committed to removing the gender pay gap over time, and is taking the following actions:

• Recruitment and promotion procedures have been revised to encourage applications from women and other underrepresented groups, take positive steps to prevent single sex shortlists, and require mandatory unconscious bias and diversity training for recruitment and promotion board members.
• Continued commitment to Athena SWAN; the University’s Bronze institutional award was renewed in 2018; 42% of our Academic Schools have achieved an Athena SWAN award and those remaining are on target to submit by 2019.
• The introduction of Professorial pay banding and a more structured salary review for senior staff.
• A review of family friendly policies is under way, with the implementation of core meeting hours across all schools to allow flexible start and finish times to support employees with caring responsibilities.
• A Carers Support Network has been established to provide a fora for discussion and engagement and to support the University’s commitment to Carer Positive.
• The Elizabeth Garret mentoring programme has been launched to support women in, or aspiring to, academic leadership roles.
• The University has sponsored 49 future academic leaders on the Aurora programme.
• A Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Research Fund has been established and is currently supporting 14 projects to generate further evidence to support good practice.
• A working group has been established with the recognised Trade Unions to build our understanding of the factors driving the gender pay gap and identify possible further actions.

These actions are the starting point for addressing gender pay differentials within the University. The University, through its Strategic Plan and through annual reporting, is committed to making progress rapid, meaningful, and visible.

Annual report 2019 (PDF)