The Equality Act 2010 outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex. Studies have shown that more than a quarter of women have experienced some form of gender discrimination in the workplace. Advance HE, previously known as The Equality Challenge Unit, published a statistical report for 2014 on Equality in Higher Education which showed a persistent pay gap of median 13.6% between male and female academics, a decline in uptake and duration of maternity leave and the continued dominance of men in senior roles.
LSE has an almost even split between female and male staff. Nonetheless, the gap widens as you move up the ladder. For example, 72% per cent of professors at LSE are male.
Athena SWAN
Advance HE's Athena SWAN award is a national charter mark that recognises the advancement of gender equality in higher education – encompassing representation, progression and success for all. It was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employed in higher education and research.
The Athena SWAN self-assessment team is responsible for the Athena SWAN application for the School, which is chaired by Professor Julia Black. The team will lead on monitoring progress in relation to the application across the School and its departments.
If you have any questions about Athena SWAN, please email: hr.athena.swan@lse.ac.uk
LSE 'Gender pay gap report 2022'
Following the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017, gender pay reporting legislation now requires employers with 250 or more employees to publish information on the size of the pay gap between their male and female employees.
Published in March 2023, LSE's 'Gender Pay Gap report' sets out the pay gap between male and female members of staff at the School. The overall median gender pay gap based on ordinary pay is 5.55% and the mean gender pay gap is 24.74%.
2016 gender and ethnicity earnings gap at LSE
The EDI Taskforce commissioned a statistical analysis of the pay and promotion gap of women for academic staff and the pay gap of women and ethnic minorities for professional services staff in 2016. The analysis was undertaken by Professor Oriana Bandiera from the Department of Economics. You can view this analysis and previous years' Gender Pay Gap reports here.
Networks
Gender Equality Forum: A network of academic women across LSE committed to addressing gender inequality in pay, access and culture.
Contact:
Suki Ali (Co-Chair) - s.c.ali@lse.ac.uk
Katherine Millar (Co-Chair) - k.m.millar@lse.ac.uk
Ellie Knott (Co-Chair) - e.k.knott@lse.ac.uk
LSE Power – Professional Women for Equality and Respect: The LSE Power network was created in early 2015. The network aims to engage with professional services staff of all gender groups within LSE to encourage and champion behaviour change and development of School policy towards gender equality.
Contact: professional.womens.network@lse.ac.uk
Equality Act 2010, Section 11: Sex
If you would like to know more about the legal definition of the protected characteristic of 'sex', please see the following text from section 11 of the Equality Act 2010:
In relation to the protected characteristic of sex —
(a) a reference to a person who has a particular protected characteristic is a reference to a man or to a woman;
(b) a reference to persons who share a protected characteristic is a reference to persons of the same sex.