Gender, Ethnicity and Disability pay gap report
03 Apr 2023
Our Gender, Ethnicity and Disability pay gap report for 2022 is now available
Dear colleagues
Our gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap reports are now available for colleagues to read.
We are required by law to produce a gender pay gap report but as with gender it is important for us to report on ethnicity and disability as well, to show our commitment to progress equality, diversity and inclusion, and to drive changes within our University.
Each section of the report measures differences between the average (mean and median) earnings of men and women who work at our University, those who have a disability and those of different ethnic groups.
Pay gaps
• Gender - the mean and median pay gaps at the University have continued to narrow and are now at the lowest since reporting commenced in 2017 at 14.1% and 10.5% respectively
• Ethnicity - Both pay gaps in relation to ethnicity have increased to 15.6% (mean) and 12.4% (median) from 13.3% and 9.9% in 2021. Whilst it is positive to report an overall improved representation of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff at the University, now accounting for 23.5% of the University’s overall population in 2022, (an increase of 694 BAME staff compared with 2021), their entry into the lower-paid grades has produced a widening of the pay gaps
• Disability - The mean and median pay gaps relating to disability have also narrowed since 2021 (the first year we compiled this report) and are now reported at 14.9% and 9.8%.
Analysis
While the narrowing of the gender and disability gaps is positive, it should be noted that the measures put in place to reduce the causes of the gaps take time to be effective and actions developed in response to the 2021 report are unlikely to have had any impact at the time of the 2022 analysis.
It is also important to note that the pay gaps across the whole workforce are not because of men and women; White and BAME; non-disabled and disabled staff being paid differently for work of equal value, as evidenced in our equal pay audits.
Our analysis confirms that the main contributing factor to our pay gaps is the under-representation of women, BAME and disabled staff in senior roles and their over-representation in the lowest paid roles. In this context, we are pleased to report that the trend of an increasing proportion of women and BAME staff now occupying roles paid in the highest paid quartile, has continued.
Action
We know that eradicating the pay gaps is a goal that will take some time to achieve, and the University is committed to developing actions that will accelerate the closing of these gaps. These include:
• Re-establishing the Gender Pay Gap Task Group
• Working closely with our Charter Mark Coordinator for Athena Swan, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confidant teams to ensure their action plans have specific activities outlined to address the gaps
• Organising facilitated gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap awareness sessions with the Staff Diversity Network groups
• Providing quarterly equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data sets to Faculty and Professional Services leadership teams to allow ongoing monitoring of emerging trends.
You can find out more about what we’re doing in the report and in our Equality Diversity and Inclusion and People and Organisational Development strategies.
We recognise that our pace of change in eradicating the pay gaps is not fast enough. The University is committed to developing actions that will accelerate the closing of these gaps and achieving equity for all.
Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice-President for Social Responsibility
Banji Adewumi, Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Adèle MacKinlay, Director of People and Organisational Development