Leeds Arts University is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and has policies and development which support this commitment.
As part of these legal obligations we are publishing this data in response to the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 which require us to report on a number of metrics as at 31 March in a given year. This is the University’s third report under the regulations.
Under the regulations the gender pay gap is the difference between the average pay (expressed as both the mean and median) of men and women expressed as a percentage and should not be confused with equal pay.
2022 Metrics
Mean gender pay gap - Women’s pay is 2.1% lower (2021 1.03%; 2020 3.98%)
Median gender pay gap - Women’s pay is 6% lower (2021 5.7%; 2020 5.7%)
The mean gender bonus pay gap - 0%
The median gender bonus pay gap - 0%
The percentage of men and women in each quartile of our payroll on 31 March 2022, 2021 and 2012, with quartile 1 being the lowest paid and quartile 4 being the highest paid is shown in the table below, with the previous 2 years figures provided for comparison purposes.
Our staff population on 31 March 2022 was 58.1% female and 41.9% male which compares to the 2021 figure of 58.2% female and 41.8% male. The University employed 322 staff on 31 March 2022 compared to 325 in 2021. These figures only include staff who identify their gender as either male or female.
Context
The University is committed to Equal Pay, and operates a grade structure based on the New JNCHES pay scale which has 51 spine points. All roles outside the most senior staff are evaluated using the HERA job evaluation scheme. The HERA scores are mapped to the grading structure to ensure staff are remunerated fairly. There are 11 formal grade bands with a limited number of spine points in each, which allow for salary progression based on experience assuming that performance criteria are met and place an upper and lower limit on remuneration for a given band. This ensures that the equal pay provisions of the Equality Act 2010 are fully met.
The salaries of senior roles are set by the Remuneration Committee which considers a range of metrics, external and internal data when setting pay levels. The Remuneration Committee’s Annual Remuneration Report to The Board of Governors for the Financial Year details these and is published on our website.
The mean gender pay gap has increased to 2.1% from 1.03% in 2021. The median gender pay gap has increased to 6% from the previous year of 5.7%.
The University has a smaller gender pay gap than published nationally. On 26 October 2022, the Office for National Statistics published 2022 data on the Gender Pay Gap in the UK: “In 2022, the gap among full-time employees increased to 8.3%, up from 7.7% in 2021. This is still below the gap of 9.0% before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019. Estimates for 2020 and 2021 are subject to more uncertainty than usual therefore we recommend looking at the longer-term trend. Among all employees, the gender pay gap decreased to 14.9%, from 15.1% in 2021, but is still below the levels seen in 2019 (17.4%).”
High levels of turnover in some areas following the pandemic means that the overall staffing profile continues to change, but despite this there has been very little turnover in senior roles within the institution. Given the University’s size, the salary (and quartile data) is influenced by this turnover with new staff typically starting on the bottom point of their pay grade.
Considering the data on a quartile basis the following was observed:
In Quartile 1 (Lower Quartile) both the male mean and median salary remain slightly higher than the female.
In Quartile 2 as with previous years both the female median and mean salary remain higher than the male.
In Quartile 3 both the female median and mean salary are lower than the male which is the opposite of last year when they were higher.
In Quartile 4 (Upper Quartile) the female mean salary is higher than the male but the median salary is lower, which is a change from previous years.
The profile of the University’s staffing by grade is considered to be a factor in accounting for the ongoing median pay gap, as is the use of spine points. The majority of staff (254) are employed within roles which fall within grades 3 to 7. 58.1% of the University’s staff are women, and whilst they make up the majority of staff across all quartiles, there remains significantly more women employed in the lower grades than men, despite the shifts in quartile representation. The highest paid member of staff is female. Three of the four lowest paid staff on the census date (who were all student ambassadors) were also female.
New appointments are usually made to the bottom of the pay grade with pay progression based on performance criteria. The increase in the workforce size and number of women appointed has impacted on the female median salary when compared to the male.
Whilst noting this analysis and the ongoing action in attempting to recruit men into lower graded roles, a complete eradication of a pay gap may be impossible to achieve with staff turnover and a grade band structure. The small numbers of staff involved make the data sensitive to small fluctuations. We will however continue to monitor the detail behind any reported figures and to take action where appropriate, whilst also being sensitive to other equality objectives of achieving a more diverse workforce. Changes are expected for next year as the University implemented a revised grade structure from 1 August 2022; and there was heavy weighting towards the bottom of the pay spine in the national pay award for 2022/23.
Prior to publication these figures have been reported to our Senior Management Team and will be considered by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.