The University of Birmingham reveals 23 per cent gender pay gap

Today the BBC released the results of an investigation involving over 6000 companies and their gender pay gaps.

78 per cent of companies pay men more than they do women, and the University of Birmingham is one of them: with the average woman earning 23.3 per cent less than the average man.

This means that UoB has a higher pay gap than the national average of 18.4 per cent. The pay gap is explained by the number of lower paid jobs and hgigher paid jobs: with women making up the majority of lower paid jobs at 61.1 per cent; and men making up the majority of higher paid jobs, with only 37.3 per cent of women holding these higher paid jobs at UoB.

Additonally, Birmingham City University revealed a 9.2 per cent pay gap.

UoB's own gender pay gap

The university, according to The Complete University Guide, has a higher number of female students with 56 per cent of students female and 44 per cent of students male. So that leads us to wonder, where are all these bright female undergrads going if there is such disparity in higher paid jobs for women at UoB?

The report also showed the breakdown of nineteen different sectors, with sixteen sectors reporting women earning less than men. These sectors include real estate, administration, retail, the arts, and health. The only three fields in which women earnt more were water and waste, household employers, and mining.

Other universities have also revealed gender pay gaps in favur of men, such as: The University of York, with the average woman paid 17.7 per cent less and The University of Bristol, with the average woman paid 16.2 per cent less.

Should the university be doing more to encourage women to pursue jobs in academia, and higher paid jobs in general?