Gender pay gap report 2020 What the findings tell us

The University has analysed the gender pay gap by contract type and grade to provide a more granular overview of the data. These figures are shown in Appendix 1.

The figures identify a mean gender pay gap of 20.7% (as compared to 21.9% reported in March 2019) and median gender pay gap of 15.1% (as compared to 16.6% reported in March 2019). The mean and median average pay gap for men and women is therefore reduced from the previous year.

 Due to methodological differences and time discrepancies in calculating the gender pay gap, it is difficult to provide a direct like-for-like calculation against which to benchmark our gender pay gap. Advance HE’s staff statistical report (2020), on the basis of the 2018-2019 year, reported that in UK higher education, the median gender pay gap was 13.7 percentage points and the mean gender pay gap was 16.7%. According to the November 2020 Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) figures, the median gender pay gap for the UK Economy stood at 15.5%.

The pay gaps identified derive, in part, from a disproportionately small number of women in more senior University roles and the disproportionately large number of women in less senior roles.

The majority of staff in the lower pay quartiles are women (64% in the lower and 58% in the lower middle), while only 39% of staff in the upper quartile are women. The Upper middle quartile has more equal gender distribution, as was the case in 2018 and 2019.

While men still dominate the highest paid quartile (61%), there has been movement in the upper quartile figures since 2019, with women gaining a three-percentage point increase (up from 36% in 2019 to 39% in 2020).

There has been little significant movement in the lower quartiles. Men gained a one percentage point increase in the lower quartile (up from 35% in 2019 to 36% in 2020) and women gained a one percentage point increase in the lower middle quartile (up from 57% in 2019 to 58% in 2020).

There is however, still a significant gender pay gap at the most senior levels, and in the case of Grade 9 professional services, the gender pay gap is very significant. The analysis of the gender pay gap by employment grade indicates a widening of the gender pay gap at grade 9 (10.9%). However, there is an important diversion between academic and professional services: the gender pay gap for grade 9 academics was 8.6, whilst the gender pay gap for grade 9 professional service staff was 23%.

We have developed our understanding of the underlying reasons for the gender pay gap and have introduced measures to reduce it. We are now considering a range of further interventions to more actively and speedily address the gender pay gap in our institution.