What is the gender pay gap at Warwick SU?

Warwick Students’ Union’s (SU) 2017 Gender Pay Gap Report has found that the difference in the mean pay between male and female employees at Warwick SU is 5.9%.

To put this into perspective, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s estimated gender pay gap for all employees – including part-time – was 18.1% in 2016.

In coherence with the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2016, as of October 2016 all private and voluntary sector employers with 250 or more employees are required to publish information on their gender pay gap.

The SU highlighted in their report that their workforce, as of 5th April 2017, comprised of 121 females and 69 males. This calculates as a workforce comprised of 64% female employees and 36% male employees. The median pay difference between the number of male and employees however, was reported to rest at 5.6%.

The SU highlighted in their report that their workforce, as of 5th April 2017, comprised of 121 females and 69 males

The report showed a difference in pay between male and female employees of 0% in the categories of mean and median bonus pay, and proportion of those who received bonus payments. However, this is the result of SU staff not receiving bonuses under any circumstances.

In terms of distribution of male and female employees within each quartile of their pay distribution, Warwick SU released the following figures:

• Lower quartile – 29.8% are male, 70.2% are female (14 males, 33 females)

• Lower middle quartile – 31.9% are male, 68.1% are female (15 males, 32 females)

• Upper middle quartile – 39.9% are male, 63.1% are female (17 males, 29 females)

• Upper quartile – 42.5% are male, 57.5% are female (20 males, 27 females)

Given this quartile-specific data, the SU explained that: “Warwick SU’s gender pay gap is driven primarily by gender imbalance in the lower quartiles.

“Our quartile reporting shows a lower representation of females in senior roles in our organisation than the lower three quartiles. However, there remain more women than men across all quartiles, including in the most senior roles in the organisation.”

Upon release of this data, the SU said that: “The Trustees and the leadership team of Warwick SU are fiercely committed to eliminating any gender pay gap.”

The SU determined to try to resolve the imbalance through methods such as “offering more flexible working arrangements wherever feasible, ensuring that policies centred on returning to work from maternity/paternity/adoption leave are accessible and support the transition back to work”.

The Trustees and the leadership team of Warwick SU are fiercely committed to eliminating any gender pay gap

– Warwick SU

The organisation also resolved to address unconscious bias within the workplace, provide adequate training on this issue, and assist women who are returning to the workplace after a career break by offering appropriate mentoring/coaching schemes that meet their specific needs.

Finally, the SU promoted “positive action provisions to attempt to increase diversity in our workforce when recruiting and promoting candidates”, explained in the report as “[recruiting] or [promoting] a candidate who is of equal merit to another candidate but who we reasonably believe has a protected characteristic (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) that is under-represented in our workforce”.

What did the ONS report about the gender pay gap in January 2018?

The gender pay gap can be affected by various factors, including the fact that men are somewhat more likely to work full-time than woman, the occupation itself, age and the job tenure, according to the ONS’s report.

Out of these characteristics, occupation has the biggest effect; it explains 23.0% of the differences between men’s and women’s log hourly pay.

Whilst the ONS reported these reasons for pay variance, the organisation said that 63.9% of all pay gaps cannot be explained.

In addition, “when comparing hourly earnings for full-time employees, men in the highest-paid occupation group (chief executives and senior officials) earn 5.3 times more than men in the lowest-paid occupation group (elementary occupations), whilst for women this figure is only 4.5 times more”.

When comparing hourly earnings for full-time employees, men in the highest-paid occupation group earn 5.3 times more than men in the lowest-paid occupation group

– ONS

As part of the UCU’s Business of the Equality Committee 2017, the UCU Congress discussed gender pay issues within universities last year in May 2017.

As a sub-division of this committee, the Women Members Standing Committee determined that “women’s work and contribution to society is valued less than men’s. This creates pay inequality; blocked progression and aspirations; poor maternity rights, lack of affordable childcare to support work/life balance; and precarious contracts.”

“In the Trump era equality and value are under threat from an increasingly aggressive male extremism. For black women this is exacerbated further. We need a collective voice to say no to discrimination.”

The Congress therefore called for a national campaign to ensure these intersecting issues are at the forefront of UCU’s work, and for the Rate for the Job website to include women’s career progression and casualisation.