Gender pay gap report 2018

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The gender pay gap and equal pay

The gender pay gap between women and men is not the same as equal pay for men and women.

The gender pay gap is the difference in average earnings between all men and women across an organisation, regardless of the work they perform.

Equal pay is where men and women in one organisation are paid the same for the same or similar work. This has been a legal requirement for more than 50 years.

We're committed to creating equality of opportunity and promoting diversity and inclusion.

This is the right thing to do and we know that with greater diversity comes better science because diverse groups of people have a wider range of experiences and perspectives, leading to greater creativity and productivity.  

We are an equal pay employer. However, we have a gender pay gap and continue to work towards addressing that gap.

The figures in this report are for the second snapshot date of 5 April 2018. For figures from the first snapshot date, read our 2017 gender pay gap report. 
 

What is the gender pay gap at the Crick?

Our mean gender pay gap was 14.2% in 2018 and our median gender pay gap was 3.6%.  These are lower than the national mean gender pay gap of 17.1% and the national median gender pay gap of 17.9% in October 2018 (source: Office for National Statistics, 25 October 2018).

 

Bar chart showing the Crick median (3.6%) and mean (14.2%) gender pay gap, compared with the national figures in October 2018 (17.9 and 17.1% respectively). The Crick's bonus pay gap is 0% as the Crick doesn't pay bonuses.

UK pay gap figures are from the Office for National Statistics annual survey of hours and earnings, 25 October 2018. The Crick has a 0% bonus gap because we do not pay bonuses.

 

Proportion of men and women in each pay quartile

Bar chart showing the percentages of women and men in each pay quartile in April 2018. Lower quartile: 53% women, 47% men. Lower middle quartile: 60% women, 40% men. Upper middle quartile: 55% women and 45% men. Upper quartile: 41% women and 59% men. Total: 52% women and 48% men.


Has there been any change to our gender pay gap?

Our gender pay gap remains higher than we would like. Our mean gender pay gap has changed slightly from 15.4% to 14.2% and our median gender pay gap has changed from 7.2% to 3.6% since 2017.


Why do we have a gender pay gap?

As in 2017, this is because we have more men than women in senior roles across our institute. There is no change in the proportion of female versus male Crick staff: 52% of our employees are women.

The institutes which came together to form the Crick in 2015 had more men than women in senior science roles. Since establishing the new institute, we have begun to redress this balance through our recruitment of new research group leaders and our hosting of groups from our university partners who are selected on merit through competition.
 

Gender balance in research group leaders

Today, 31% of our research group leaders are women, up from 21% in 2015.

 

Proportion of research group leaders

 
 

Women

Men

Crick established in 2015    21%79%
April 201827%73%
Today in 201931%69%


 

What are we doing to address our gender pay gap?

We have begun to make changes at the Crick to improve diversity and inclusion but it is too soon for these to have had a significant impact on our gender pay gap. It will take time to make significant changes at senior levels, but we are committed to creating a culture that promotes inclusivity and supports working parents, and to recruiting and developing women leaders in science.

Since our we published our 2017 gender pay gap report in April 2018, we have:

  • introduced generous support for childcare costs for parents with young children returning to work from April 2018;
  • appointed women to 66% of group leader positions;
  • promoted shared parental leave at all levels across the institute.

Our next priorities include:

  • submitting an application for an Athena Swan Bronze Institution Award to formally recognise our commitment to improving gender equality at the Crick; and
  • launching a new leadership development programme to help embed the value of diversity and inclusion, and develop female leaders.

Other initiatives that could influence our gender pay gap include:

  • automatic fixed-term contact extensions for those taking parental leave;
  • flexibility on review dates for research group leaders who have taken extended periods of leave, for example maternity leave;
  • support for group leaders who wish to work part-time;
  • reviews of part-time group leaders will be based on part-time employment;
  • mentoring programmes for early career group leaders;
  • a target for women to make up one third or more of the initial shortlist in recruiting new group leaders;
  • training in equality, diversity and inclusion for all staff; and
  • ongoing initiatives to support wellbeing.

We recognise that we must continue to be proactive in our approach to increasing all forms of diversity, including gender diversity, at the Crick if we are to pursue our strategy of discovery without boundaries.

I confirm that our gender pay gap calculations are accurate and meet the requirements of the regulations.

Paul Nurse
Director