‘Shocking’ gender pay gap persists at Cambridge University

Just 14% of the highest earners are women

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The Equal Pay Review 2016 has revealed significant differences in male and female salaries within the University.

In the year ending July 2016, 123 employees of Cambridge University were paid more than than £140,000, but just 17 of those were women. Correspondingly, 108 – or 86% – of the top earners were men. This is particularly disproportionate given that 50.8% of the University’s employees, overall, are female.

The average basic pay gap in favour of men at the University has decreased marginally, from 19.3% in 2015 to 18.6% in 2016. Yet, this is still worse than the most recent average (17.8%) across the UK public sector.

Furthermore, in spite of Dr Pippa Rogerson’s election as Caius first female master this May, it still remains that only 12 of the 31 college masters at the University are women.

Daniel Zeichner, the MP for Cambridge, called the recent report “shocking”, and said that “more needs to be done” to address the current “inequality”, while Mary Beard, professor of Classics at Newnham College, said that it was “about time” this issue was taken seriously, and that she hoped the report “leads to progress.”

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Nonetheless, with the Equal Pay Review being in its sixth year, a degree of progress can be identified in gender parity at the University. The review has recorded more female employees at Cambridge than ever, since its inception in 2010 and the gender gap in both total pay and basic pay is reducing, down to its lowest rate in at least six years.

Cambridge University has been contacted for comment.