ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS. The gender pay gap in UK higher education

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1 ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS The gender pay gap in UK higher education AUT RESEARCH, February 2004

2 ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS The gender pay gap in UK higher education Summary The pay gap between women and men in full time work across the UK is 18% - that is, the average pay of women is 18% below their male colleagues. In higher education institutions across the UK the pay gap is 15%. In England the gap is 14.7%, in Scotland 17.5%, in Wales 18% and in Northern Ireland 16.9%. The pay gaps at individual HEIs in the UK range from 42% to -0.6%. Women academics in UK higher education are over-represented in the more junior job grades and under-represented in the highest grades. For example, in universities established before 1992, 43% of those on the most junior grade of Lecturer A were women, compared with only 12.2% of professors. Within grades women academics tend to be over-represented at the lower salary points and under-represented at the highest points. The proportion of women on discretionary points within a salary grades is particularly low. For example, in the senior lecturer grade at pre-92 universities, 22% of those in the grade are women, but only 15% of those on discretionary points are women. Recruitment incentives or golden hellos are used almost exclusively in subject areas that are dominated by men. The gender pay gap in higher education could be caused by a number of factors, but the following are likely to have a significant impact: - The level of employer s discretion in determining salaries - including where staff are placed on a scale on appointment, and the use of discretionary salary points and market supplements; - Having long pay grades; - The use of recruitment and retention incentives; - The way promotion opportunities are accessed. Despite the publication of guidance by the Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education (JNCHES) in 2002 on carrying out equal pay reviews, the majority of HEIs have not carried out such reviews to date. Employers in higher education are seeking to lengthen pay grades, increase the use of discretionary salary points, make greater use of market supplements and introduce more local pay discretion. The AUT believes these measures will further entrench the gender pay gap. To reduce and eliminate the gender pay gap, the AUT is arguing for shorter pay scales, a robust and transparent grading structure, transparent and accessible criteria for progression and promotion and, at the very least, safeguards for the use of discretionary points and market supplements. AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

3 1 UK pay gap overview More than 30 years after the Equal Pay Act was passed to get rid of differences in pay due to sex discrimination, the pay picture in UK higher education remains a matter of serious concern. The average pay for full-time female academic staff in the UK in was 15% lower than that of their male colleagues (Table 1). 1 This means that for every 1 earned by a male academic, their female colleagues only earned 85p on average. In England the pay gap was slightly narrower, with women s earnings on average 14.7% less than their male colleagues. But the gap was 17.5% in Scotland, 18% in Wales and 16.9% in Northern Ireland. By comparison, full-time female employees across Great Britain as a whole earned on average 18% less than full-time male employees. 2 Table 1 Gender pay gap in higher education institutions % UK 15.2 England 14.7 Scotland 17.5 Wales 18.0 Northern Ireland 16.9 Source: AUT analysis of HESA data 2 Pay gap at higher education institutions in England In there was a range of pay differences between full-time male and female academics at individual institutions in England. At one end of the scale, the average pay for women was 42% lower than for men at St George s Hospital Medical School in London, while at Bath Spa University College, women earned 0.2% more than their male colleagues (Table 2). AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

4 Table 2 Gender pay gap in higher education institutions in England Average salary Higher education institution Female Male Total Pay gap % Anglia Polytechnic University Aston University Bath Spa University College The University of Bath Birkbeck College The University of Birmingham Bolton Institute of Higher Education Bournemouth University The University of Bradford The University of Brighton The University of Bristol Brunel University Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College The University of Cambridge The Institute of Cancer Research Canterbury Christ Church University College The University of Central England in Birmingham The University of Central Lancashire Chester College of HE University College Chichester City University Coventry University Cranfield University De Montfort University University of Derby University of Durham The University of East Anglia The University of East London Edge Hill College of Higher Education The University of Essex The University of Exeter University of Gloucestershire Goldsmiths College The University of Greenwich University of Hertfordshire The University of Huddersfield The University of Hull Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine Institute of Education The University of Keele The University of Kent at Canterbury King Alfred's College, Winchester King's College London AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

5 Kingston University The University of Lancaster Leeds Metropolitan University The University of Leeds The University of Leicester The University of Lincoln Liverpool Hope Liverpool John Moores University The University of Liverpool University of London (Institutes and activities) The London Institute London School of Economics and Political Science London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Loughborough University University of Luton University of Manchester The University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology The Manchester Metropolitan University Middlesex University The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne University College Northampton The University of Northumbria at Newcastle The Nottingham Trent University The University of Nottingham The Open University Oxford Brookes University The University of Oxford The University of Plymouth The University of Portsmouth Queen Mary and Westfield College The University of Reading University of Surrey, Roehampton Royal Holloway and Bedford New College The Royal Veterinary College St George's Hospital Medical School St Martin's College The University of Salford The School of Oriental and African Studies Sheffield Hallam University The University of Sheffield South Bank University Southampton Institute The University of Southampton Staffordshire University The University of Sunderland The University of Surrey The University of Sussex The University of Teesside AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

6 Thames Valley University University College London The University of Warwick University of the West of England, Bristol The University of Westminster The University of Wolverhampton University College Worcester Writtle College York St John College The University of York Note: HEIs with fewer than 50 full-time women and 50 full-time men were excluded Source: Average salary data provided by HESA; percentage calculations by AUT 3 Pay gap at higher education institutions in Scotland In there was a range of pay differences between full-time male and female academics at individual institutions in Scotland. At one end of the scale, the average pay for women was 25% lower than for men at the University of Aberdeen, while at Bell College, women earned 0.6% more than their male colleagues (Table 3). Table 3 Gender pay gap in higher education institutions in Scotland Average salary Higher education institution Female Male Total Pay gap % The University of Aberdeen University of Abertay Dundee Bell College The University of Dundee The University of Edinburgh Glasgow Caledonian University The University of Glasgow Heriot-Watt University Napier University The University of Paisley Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh The Robert Gordon University The University of St Andrews Scottish Agricultural College The University of Stirling The University of Strathclyde Note: HEIs with fewer than 50 full-time women and 50 full-time men were excluded Source: Average salary data provided by HESA; percentage calculations by AUT AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

7 4 Pay gap at higher education institutions in Wales In there was a range of pay differences between full-time male and female academics at individual institutions in Wales. At one end of the scale, the average pay for women was 33% lower than for men at the University of Wales College of Medicine, while at the North-East Wales Institute of Higher Education women earned just 1.2% less than their male colleagues (Table 4). Table 4 Gender pay gap in higher education institutions in Wales Average salary Higher education institution Female Male Total Pay gap % University of Wales, Aberystwyth University of Wales, Bangor Cardiff University University of Wales Institute, Cardiff University of Glamorgan University of Wales College of Medicine The North-East Wales Institute of Higher Education University of Wales, Swansea Note: HEIs with fewer than 50 full-time women and 50 full-time men were excluded Source: Average salary data provided by HESA; percentage calculations by AUT 5 Pay gap at higher education institutions in Northern Ireland In the average pay for women was 19% lower than for men at the Queen s University of Belfast, while at the University of Ulster women earned 15% less than their male colleagues (Table 5). Table 5 Gender pay gap in higher education institutions in Northern Ireland Average salary Higher education institution Female Male Total Pay gap % The Queen's University of Belfast University of Ulster Note: HEIs with fewer than 50 full-time women and 50 full-time men were excluded Source: Average salary data provided by HESA; percentage calculations by AUT AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

8 6 Job grades and gender Women academics in UK higher education are over-represented in lower graded jobs and under-represented in the higher grades. This pattern, according to the Equal Opportunities Commission, is one of the main factors for pay gaps. 3 In universities established in England and Wales after 1992, nearly half of those employed full-time on the most junior grade of lecturer were women, compared with just over one quarter of those employed as heads of department (Table 6). Table 6 Job grades and gender , post-92 academics Female Male Lecturer 47.3% 52.7% Senior lecturer 40.3% 59.7% Principal lecturer 30.5% 69.5% Head of department 27.2% 72.8% For researchers in post-92 institutions, 57% of those employed full-time on the more junior Researcher A grade were women, compared with 43% on the more senior Researcher B grade (Table 7). Table 7 Job grades and gender , post-92 researchers Female Male Researcher A 56.5% 43.5% Researcher B 42.5% 57.5% Similarly in higher education institutions in the UK established before 1992, the proportion of women employed on a grade decreases with the seniority of the grade. Nearly half of those employed full-time on the most junior grade, Lecturer A, were women, compared with only 12% of professors (Table 8). AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

9 Table 8 Job grades and gender , pre-92 academics Female Male Lecturer A 42.8% 57.2% Lecturer B 35.0% 65.0% Senior lecturer 22.3% 77.7% Professor 12.2% 87.8% For researchers in pre-92 institutions, there is a similar pattern. While more than half of those employed full-time on the most junior grade, IB, were women, only 21% of those on the most senior grade, IV, were women (Table 9). Table 9 Job grades and gender , pre-92 researchers Female Male Research grade IB 52.5% 47.5% Research grade IA 40.0% 60.0% Research grade II 34.1% 65.9% Research grade III 28.3% 71.7% Research grade IV 21.2% 78.8% Among clinical academics, 35% of full-time lecturers were women, compared with 10% of professors (Table 10). Table 10 Job grades and gender , clinical academics Female Male Clinical lecturer 35.0% 65.0% Clinical senior lecturer 20.6% 79.4% Clinical professor 9.8% 90.2% AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

10 7 Salary points and gender Even within job grades, women academics tend to be over-represented on the lower salary points and under-represented on the highest points. For example, of those employed full-time on the lecturer A grade in pre-92 institutions in , more than half of those on the lowest salary point - point 7 - were women, compared with just over one-third on the highest point, point 11 (Table 11). Table 11 Pre-92 Lecturer A grade, salary points Women Men Salary point % % Grand Total Where there are discretionary points at the top of a job grade, the proportion of women on each salary point is particularly low. For example, in , in the senior lecturer grade in pre-92 institutions (Table 12: salary points start at point 20), around one-quarter of full-time academics on the main scale points (points 20-24) were women. That proportion dropped to around 15% on the discretionary points (points shown in italics). 4 Table 12 Pre-92 Senior Lecturer grade, salary points (discretionary points shown in italics) Salary point Women Men % % AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

11 Where discretionary points form part of a grade it should be open to all staff on that grade to apply for them. The criteria for qualifying for discretionary pay should be transparent and objective to minimise the risk of discrimination. The AUT are pressing for the publication of such criteria and for procedures for accessing discretionary pay points. Use of discretionary points should form part of any equal pay monitoring. 8 Conclusion There may be a number of reasons for gender pay gaps, but a number of employers that have carried out audits have found that the greatest differences in pay for men and women occur from differences in starting salaries. 5 In higher education, the point on which staff are placed within a grade on appointment also has a knock-on effect on their promotion prospects. Pay scales with a large number of service-related pay points have also been found to be a source of gender pay discrimination, because women are less likely to reach the top of those scales due to breaks in service. 6 Long pay scales also allow for greater discretion as to the starting salaries of staff. Occupational segregation, also identified as a factor contributing to the gender pay gap, may occur to some extent within HEIs. Since August 2003 the Higher Education Funding Council for England has made available funds for HEIs to use as recruitment incentives (known as golden hellos ) for teaching staff. These funds are only available for recruitment to six selected shortage subject areas that have been identified as currently suffering the most difficulties in recruitment or retention. These shortage subject areas include computing, business, mathematics, engineering and clinical medicine and dentistry. These are all areas in which men dominate in numerical terms. 7 The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched an equal pay campaign - It s time to get even - on 1 January The campaign aims to raise awareness of the gender pay gap among employees and employers, and to encourage organisations to take steps to tackle unequal pay. The EOC recommends that organisations carry out equal pay reviews that compare the pay of men and women across the organisation, explain any pay gaps and take steps to close those gaps that cannot be satisfactorily explained on grounds other than sex. The Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES) published guidance for HEIs in March 2002 on Equal Pay Reviews. 8 The guidance deals with the analysis and diagnosis of equal pay issues and with the actions - arising from these analytical and diagnostic reviews - that need to be taken to eliminate any pay gaps. Despite this guidance, the majority of HEIs have not carried out equal pay reviews to date. AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

12 The AUT believes that policies such as increased pay differentiation and market supplements, and the general trend towards giving institutions more local pay discretion, will worsen the already scandalous pay discrimination in higher education. The current Framework proposals from the employers seek to lengthen pay grades, increase the use of discretionary salary points and allow for greater use of market supplements. These proposals will work against any attempts to address the issue of equal pay in higher education. The AUT is arguing for shorter pay scales, a robust and transparent grading structure, transparent and accessible criteria for progression and promotion and, at the very least, safeguards for the use of discretionary points and market supplements. AUT research February 2004 Endnotes 1 In this paper the average pay data was provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency from its individualised staff record for (the most recent year for which HESA data were available at the time of writing). Percentage calculations were by the Association of University Teachers. HESA does not accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties. 2 New Earnings Survey Equal pay task force set up by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) which produced a report Just Pay in 2001 identified three main factors contributing to the gender gap: discrimination in pay systems, the unequal impact of family caring responsibilities and occupational segregation.see 4 Discretionary pay points are a form of performance related pay awarded to employees at the manager s discretion 5 IDS report 897 January 2004 page 11 6 IDS report 897 January 2004 page 11 7 HESA Individualised Staff Record for full time staff 8 Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff: Equal Pay Reviews: Guidance for Higher Education Institutions. See AUT 2004 UK HE gender pay gap

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