Harnessing the power of a diverse and balanced workforce #FutureofEmployment
The UK has one of the biggest gender pay gaps in Europe. Currently standing at 21%, this has increased by 1.3% since 2011, marking a national step in the wrong direction.
STEM sits among the worst-performing sectors, with women making up just 23% of those in core STEM occupations in the UK, and 24% of those working in core STEM industries.
Against this backdrop, in 2018, Jisc’s median pay gap stood at 10.2%, with a median pay gap of 17.6%. Women make up 44% of the workforce.
Jisc’s people business partner Simone Bartley comments:
“Like many employers in the technology sector, we employ fewer women in our in our leadership and technical roles that command a higher salary. However, we believe that our commitment to taking action over sustained periods will eventually achieve the changes we need.”
Following last year’s gender and bonus pay report, Jisc identified four priority areas for action.
As a result, 2018 saw the gender pay gap decrease, with more women progressing to senior roles, and a wider range of candidates for applying for jobs.
Outlining further action, the 2018 report seeks to:
- Improve the proportion of women and diverse candidates appointed into technical roles, taking targeted action to address this and review how to better support internal progression;
- Improve data and analysis, making managers accountable for achieving improvements in their team;
- Continue to build on areas of success, such as the development of training resources and Jisc’s programme for sharing stories and experiences to inspire change;
- Continue to actively engage with colleagues through Jisc’s employee network to understand challenges and develop targeted solutions.
Jisc is also proud to be part of the Tech Talent Charter, working to encourage more young people and women into STEM subjects and addressing ways to attract more women to work and progress in senior roles.
Deputy chief executive and chief operating officer Alice Colban concludes:
“We know that diversity issues will not be resolved overnight and anticipate that it may take a few years to fully address the gender gap in our technical roles. That said, we are making steps in the right direction, especially when it comes to our company culture. Jisc’s employee network in particular has enabled more of our people to share their stories, highlighting challenges, and celebrating achievements.”
Following the recent news that the pay gap between male and female graduates in the UK has widened over three consecutive years, Sheila Flavell, COO at FDM Group (a FTSE 250 firm with a 0% gender pay gap) and Chair of the Advisory Board of the IoC comments:
“These figures underline the need for closer collaboration between industry and education in order to undo the old-fashioned and outdated system which gives greater benefit and better opportunity to more privileged candidates.
“Also, in order to continue to improve the pay disparity between men and women, companies need to firstly acknowledge that the problem still exists before developing their collaborative efforts with our education institutions – ensuring women and underprivileged graduates are given equal opportunity to their male counterparts.
“It’s also important that we don’t rush to condemn companies that are struggling to make instant improvements, instead focusing on the commitment and improvements made to improving the pay ratio, so that positive progress is always being made.”
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