This university just made one simple change to close its gender pay gap
LONDON -- A British university is giving each of its female professors a pay rise to wipe out its gender pay gap in one fell swoop.
The University of Essex has pledged to increase female professors' pay to bring it in line with the average salaries of male professors.
According to a statement, the university's council has approved plans to give female professorial staff a "one-off uplift" to their salaries, to "ensure the pay gap in completely closed by October 2016."
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The move comes not long after an analysis by Times Higher Education (THE) revealed that female academics are paid 11% less than men in the UK.
Data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency for 2014-15 showed that female academic staff in the UK are paid an average of £45,704, while male academics are paid £51,333 on average. That's a difference of £5,629.
According to the THE analysis, King's College London has the largest pay gap for all academic staff, with women paid £10,061 (17.7%) less than men. And, at Queen's University Belfast -- which has the largest gender pay gap for professors -- female professors are paid £11,257 on average less than male colleagues.
“Treating our staff with equal respect and dignity is at the very core of our values as a diverse and inclusive community," the University of Essex's Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster said in a statement emailed to Mashable.
“This decision ensures we reward people in a fair way, based upon their contribution to our community, regardless of their personal characteristics,” Forster continued.
While some took to social media to applaud the university for its move, others called on more academic institutions -- as well as other employers -- to do the same..
"Hurrah! at last an employer recognising their legal and moral duty to eliminate gender pay gaps," read one tweet.
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"This needs to be done everywhere. Among other things," read another tweet.
"It is astonishing that in the 21st century UK there is still a gender pay gap in universities," wrote one Twitter user.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
