Gender pay gap report 2020

Trees in front of glass panels on the Crick's exterior.

We remain committed to creating equality of opportunity and promoting diversity and inclusion at the Francis Crick Institute.

Greater diversity is needed for science because diverse groups of people have a wider range of experiences and perspectives, leading to greater creativity and ultimately more scientific discovery.

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 fourth snapshot date of 5 April 2020. For figures from the first snapshot date, read our 2017 gender pay gap report. For figures from the second snapshot date, read our 2018 gender pay gap report. For figures from the third snapshot date, read our 2019 gender pay gap report.

What is the gender pay gap at the Crick?

Our mean gender pay gap was 11.5% in 2019 and our median gender pay gap was 2.9%.  These are slightly lower than the national mean gender pay gap of 15.5% and considerably lower than the national median gender pay gap of 14.6% in December 2020 (source: Office for National Statistics).

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 11.5% and our median gender pay gap has changed from 7.2% to 2.9% since 2017.

Why do we have a gender pay gap?

As in previous years, the main reason that we have a gender pay gap at the Crick is that we have more men than women in senior roles across our institute. One of the reasons that our gender pay gap has reduced in 2020 is because the proportion of male and female employees has changed. In 2019 54% of employees at the Crick were women, in 2020 52% of our employees are women. However, the proportion of men/women in the upper quartile is unchanged.

The Crick's 2020 gender pay gap

Graph showing the Crick's mean and median gender pay gaps (11.5% and 2.9% respectively) compared to the UK's gender pay gaps (15.5% and 14.6%)

UK pay gap figures are from the Office for National Statistics compiled from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 7 December 2020. The Crick has a 0% bonus gap because we do not pay bonuses.

Proportion of men and women in each pay quartile

Graph showing the proportion of men and women in each pay quartile at the Crick - upper (59%/41%), upper middle (45%/55%), lower middle (41%/59%) and lower (48%/52%)

What are we doing to address our gender pay gap?

Our focus on gender balance and equity have contributed to the reduction in our gender pay gap since 2019, and we anticipate a continued impact on our gender pay gap in the coming years.  We are committed to creating a culture that promotes inclusivity and supports working parents, and to recruiting and developing women leaders in science.

In support of our ambition to promote women in science and improve our gender pay gap we continue to monitor and review our activity: reviewing our pay and recognition to ensure gender equity and monitoring recruitment statistics to ensure we are accessible to women at all stages in their career.

To this end we ensure;

  • A core funded research programme for all new group leaders which appears to remove the need for unhealthy competition and our colleagues, in particular, like the model as it provides a stable period when research can be done without the stress of writing grants and provides stability and flexibility to start a family without the concerns of securing grants while having a career break. 
  • A generous support package for group leaders moving to the Crick to enable them to settle and support their family during the first few years.
  • Automatic contract extensions and flexibility on review dates for colleagues taking maternity, paternity or adoption leave.
  • Training and development opportunities to educate and enable colleagues with mentoring programmes encouraged for all staff, and essential training in equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Family friendly policies and benefits to all staff. We have structured our benefits to provide support for family and carers. All staff can access childcare allowances for young children and up to 5 days emergency carer and childcare cover per year and wellbeing support for all family members including a 24 hour GP service.

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.

Fiona Roberts
Chief People Officer