Men are paid £8,500 more than women at Newcastle uni

A report published today placed Newcastle uni 24^th on a league table of the 30 worst Higher Education Institutions in the country for maintaining a gender pay gap.

The University and College Union’s (UCU) report shows that female academic staff at the university receive a 7.4% smaller salary on average than men: a pay gap of over £8,500.

The table attempts to account for the “disproportionate number of men in the professoriate” by combining the rankings of four academic staff contract levels (all academics, early-career, mid-career, professors) in order to expose the educational institutions with the widest gender pay gaps across all career stages.

The report was published to highlight the issue of gender equality on International Women’s Day.

Responding to the report, NUSU Marginalised Genders officer, Lucy Morgan, told The Tab: “I’m pretty disgusted that female academics at Newcastle Uni are paid on average 8 grand less than their male counterparts. Although I am disgusted at these findings, I am definitely not surprised.

“Institutional sexism will continue to widen the pay gap unless it is confronted and dealt with. These findings paint a damning portrait of Newcastle Uni – which it should feel very ashamed of.

“However I am hopeful that these figures will encourage this institution to start the fight against structural sexism and empower women and those whose genders are marginalised to demand and receive equal opportunities at Newcastle”.

Newcastle University’s Diversity Dean, Prof. Judith Rankin said: “I haven’t actually seen the figures that they have derived this table from but I can assure your audience that gender equality and pay is something that Newcastle Uni takes very seriously”.

Although Prof. Rankin said she did not dispute the findings of the UCU, she remains “unaware” of any gender pay gap at Newcastle Uni and expects the Uni’s own forthcoming research to show that.

Prof. Rankin said: “I am not debating their figures in terms of Newcastle being 24^th but we have no evidence of any pay discrepancy when we compare male and female academic staff doing the same job”.

Newcastle Uni’s report on academic pay is currently at the committee stage and due for publishing in next few months.