Universities must make flexible working “the default”, including at higher salary levels, to truly tackle their gender pay gaps, according to a report that poses the question: “How long will it be until we see the first job-share vice-chancellor?”
The Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) report, published on 14 March, finds that women working in UK universities earn, on average, 11.9 per cent less than men – a gap “smaller than the national gender pay gap, currently reported at 14.4 per cent”. But there is “extensive” variation between universities, with median gender pay gaps in 2022 ranging from zero to 41 per cent, and progress on closing the gap appears to be slowing.
The report blames “a number of structural barriers which may be preventing pay parity”, including “imbalanced maternity and paternity leave, unequal access to the job market for part-time workers, and biased recruitment metrics” such as those based on academic publication records, which fail to take account of the part-time working or career breaks that are often part of women’s lives as mothers.
Among its recommendations is that institutions “should consider how many more roles can be offered on a part-time, job share or flexible basis”, including at higher salary bands.
