Gender Pay Gap
The gender pay gap is a measure of the difference between the average hourly earnings of male and female staff. Goldsmiths, University of London has a statutory duty to report this data to the Government Equalities Office.
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All employers in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) with more than 250 member of staff must report this information under the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, which require us to report on a number of metrics as of 31 March in a given year.
These metrics are:
- Mean gender pay gap
- Median gender pay gap
- Mean bonus gender pay gap
- Median bonus gender pay gap
- Proportion of males and females receiving a bonus payment
- Proportion of males and females in each quartile band
The gender pay gap differs from equal pay, which requires that men and women in the same employment performing equal work must receive the same pay. Both the gender pay gap and equal pay are measurements which address the disparity of pay women receive in the workplace.
While it is a requirement by law that gender pay gap data must be supplied in female and male categories, Goldsmiths recognises that gender is not a binary concept.
The gender pay gap at Goldsmiths
Data as of 31 March 2023 shows:
- Mean gender pay gap was 4.8%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 4.8% lower than the average for male members of staff
- Median gender pay gap was 2.6%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 2.6% lower than the equivalent male salary
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Upper quartile | 50.3% | 49.7% |
| Upper middle quartile | 41.7% | 58.3% |
| Lower middle quartile | 38.0% | 62.0% |
| Lower quartile | 43.1% | 56.9% |
| Grand Total | 43.3% | 56.7% |
Data as of 31 March 2022 shows:
- Mean gender pay gap was 4.6%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 4.6% lower than the average for male members of staff
- Median gender pay gap was 6.4%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 6.4% lower than the equivalent male salary
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Upper quartile | 49.3% | 50.7% |
| Upper middle quartile | 41.4% | 58.6% |
| Lower middle quartile | 39.8% | 60.2% |
| Lower quartile | 41.0% | 59.0% |
| Grand Total | 42.9% | 57.1% |
Data as of 31 March 2021 shows:
- Mean gender pay gap was 3.8%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 3.8% lower than the average for male members of staff;
- Median gender pay gap was 4.1%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 4.1% lower than the equivalent male salary.
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Top | 49.2% | 50.8% |
| Upper Middle | 43.1% | 56.9% |
| Lower Middle | 40.0% | 60.0% |
| Bottom | 42.2% | 57.8% |
| Grand Total | 43.6% | 56.4% |
Data as of 31 March 2020 shows:
- Mean gender pay gap was 3.5%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 3.5% lower than the average for male members of staff;
- Median gender pay gap was 3.9%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 3.9% lower than the equivalent male salary.
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Top | 49.34% | 50.66% |
| Upper Middle | 56.29% | 43.71% |
| Lower Middle | 60.90% | 39.10% |
| Bottom | 54.51% | 45.49% |
| Grand Total | 55.26% | 44.74% |
Data as of 31 March 2019 shows:
- Mean gender pay gap was 5.4%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 5.4% lower than the average for male members of staff;
- Median gender pay gap was 3.9%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 3.9% lower than the equivalent male salary.
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | 60.04% | 39.96% |
| Lower Middle | 56.15% | 43.85% |
| Upper Middle | 56.35% | 43.65% |
| Top | 49.90% | 50.10% |
| Grand Total | 55.61% | 44.39% |
Data as of 31 March 2018 shows:
- Mean gender pay gap was 5.2%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 5.2% lower than the average for male members of staff;
- Median gender pay gap was 3.7%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 3.7% lower than the equivalent male salary.
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | 59% | 41% |
| Lower Middle | 58% | 42% |
| Upper Middle | 53% | 47% |
| Upper Quartile | 51% | 49% |
The overall profile of our staff population on 31 March 2018 was 55% women and 45% men.
Data as of 31st March 2017 showed:
- Mean gender pay gap was 5.65%. This means the average hourly salary of female members of staff was 5.65% lower than the average for male members of staff;
- Median gender pay gap was 7.45%. This means the average hourly salary in the middle of our female staff population was 7.45% lower than the equivalent male salary.
Goldsmiths does not have a formal bonus scheme.
Pay profile by quartile
| Quartile | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | 56% | 44% |
| Lower Middle Quartile | 60% | 40% |
| Upper Middle Quartile | 52% | 48% |
| Upper Quartile | 48% | 52% |
The overall profile of our staff population on 31 March 2017 was 54% women and 46% men.
How Goldsmiths is addressing the gender pay gap
Goldsmiths aims to advance Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) through everything that we do.
Our EDI strategy and Public Sector Equality Duty objectives can be found on our Equality and Diversity pages.
Goldsmiths participates in the Athena SWAN Charter, achieving the Bronze award in March 2020.
Our Athena SWAN action plan sets out the steps we will take to achieve greater representation of women in these senior academic roles, and to promote gender equality more broadly.
All of our initiatives aim to challenge structural and intersectional inequalities. Key initiatives include:
- Introducing a requirement for chairs of recruitment panels to undertake Recruitment and Selection training which includes clear guidance on equality and positive action
- Reviewing Academic Promotions guidance, training and feedback to promote greater confidence in the process, with the aim of supporting more women to apply for promotion
- Working with line managers to ensure they are aware of their role in promoting equality, and are pro-actively supporting the career progression of women within their departments
- Ensuring leadership programmes are relevant and effective in supporting the career progression of women, addressing the institutional barriers faced by women at Goldsmiths
- Providing mentoring and coaching opportunities to support the career progression of women and under-represented groups
- Improving the PDR process so that it is used as an effective mechanism for removing barriers to career progression
- Celebrating senior role models from diverse backgrounds through a continued programme of Athena SWAN events and Women’s Leadership Network activities
- Promoting an inclusive working culture by enhancing our training, guidance and resources in relation to flexible working, family-friendly policies and bullying and harassment
National and local context
Latest data released by the Office for National Statistics shows that the average median gender pay gap among all employees in the UK is 15.4%. Among full-time employees it is 7.9%.
Goldsmiths operates a grade structure based on the New JNCHES single pay scale. Pay in relation to the single pay spine is negotiated nationally. All roles outside of our Senior Management Team and others off the national single pay scale roles are evaluated using the HERA job evaluation scheme.
The HERA scores are mapped to our grading structure to ensure that we remunerate staff fairly for the same role, like work and work of equal value regardless of their role within the institution. This ensures that we comply with the Equality Act 2010 and do not pay people unequally due to a protected characteristic such as their sex.
The grading structure contains a number of spine points within each grade band; and staff are usually appointed to the bottom of the grade band. Under this framework staff who have held a role for a longer period are more highly remunerated within that grade band for their work; and this remuneration reflects the experience that they have gained in undertaking their duties.
Prior to publication these figures have been reported to our Senior Management Team and we will report regularly to our Human Resources and Equalities Committee with regard to work we undertake to close our gender pay gap.