Women have the upper hand at UAL

by Akilah Russell

Female academic staff get paid higher salaries than their male counterparts, statistics published by Times Higher Education and HESA revealed.

According to the report, in 2008 to 2009, University of the Arts London (UAL) was one of the few institutions where female staff earned more than their male colleagues, on average £600 more.

However, the report showed that on average, men earned £48,962 across all academic grades, while women earned £42,721 – a gap of 14 per cent.

Despite this report, a spokesperson for UAL told Arts London News: “University of the Arts London is an equal opportunities employer and has a pay structure in place that suitably rewards our high quality staff regardless of gender.

"We are committed to creating a culture in which diversity and equality of opportunity are actively promoted and as such our pay for male and female staff is relatively equal.”

At the London School of Economics, female staff across all academic grades received an average of £10,000 a year less than their male colleagues.

Male professors at University College London earned some £5,000 more than female ones.

Ceri Goddard, chief executive of the Fawcett Society who fight for equality in the workplace, said to london-student.net: “Young women may be leaving college with higher qualifications than men, but after only four years the men’s salaries take over.

"A large part of this is nothing to do with time out for childcare but straightforward discrimination."