At the University of Bath we are committed to equality of employment. We use a grading system to measure equal work to ensure fairness and consistency by measuring all jobs against the same criteria.
Between 2020 and 2021:
- the median pay gap increased by 0.62%
- the mean gap reduced by 1.27%
- more women received bonus pay than men
Gender distribution
Our workforce is, overall, 51% female and 49% male. Along with most other universities, there are different proportions in different parts of the workforce. The important issue about the gender pay gap is that it measures two things:
- the pay people (by gender) get for doing the same equivalent job
- the distribution of those people (by gender) within the organisation
The distribution of pay by grade shows that there are no significant, enduring differences of equal pay for equal work. It is the lower proportion of women in the more senior grades and lower proportion of men in the lower grades which contribute significantly to the difference in mean and median pay. We also know that more women than men choose to take up flexible working opportunities and that these are currently more common in the lower grades.
Analysis of the gender pay gap by age
The gender pay gap for those aged under 40 is 7.7%, compared to 26.5% for those aged over 40. This shows an improvement since 2020 and indicates that the steps the University is taking to reduce the gap have had an effect. As the population matures, we expect the gap will continue to improve.
Reducing the gap − what we've done already
Recruitment
We continue to use and implement best practice recruitment procedures by:
- ensuring there is a balanced gender mix involved in all stages of the recruitment process
- using software to assess language neutrality and bias in our recruitment adverts
- utilising management information to analyse the gender makeup of departments so that we can tailor our recruitment campaigns
- investing in software that allows us to analyse the labour market and ensure that recruitment campaigns attract candidates from underrepresented groups
- ensuring there is consistency in the way that offers are made to candidates. Any offers made above the lowest spine point for the grade require justification and sign off from the Talent Acquisition Manager
Equality and diversity
To promote equality and diversity in the organisation, we have:
- appointed a full time Vice President of Culture and Inclusion, reporting to the Vice-Chancellor, to provide oversight, direction and strategy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- created a Culture & Inclusion team to provide the infrastructure to support the direction set by the new Vice President for Community and Inclusion
- received an Athena Swan Silver Award
- established a Staff Experience Board to review and initiate proposals that affect staff at the University. This includes providing a pathway to support the implementation of EDI initiatives
- continued to operate a Gender Pay Working Group to investigate the causes of the gender pay gap
What we will do now
- Following the appointment of the Vice-President for Community and Inclusion, we will review and renew plans to tackle pay gaps across the University and grow the Equality and Diversity function at the University
- Complete recruitment to the roles that have been created within the newly formed Culture & Inclusion team
- Increase the use of anonymous shortlisting by trialling the automatic opt-in of managers at the start of the recruitment process
- Explore and promote opportunities to increase flexible hours and part time recruitment for positions at G7 and above
By putting these actions into place, we are taking steps to reduce the gender pay gap in the longer term.