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UCU response to Hepi report on graduate gender pay gap

12 November 2020

UCU said universities need to make addressing the gender pay gap a priority in higher education. The union was responding to a new report, 'Mind the (graduate gender) pay gap', published by the Higher Education Policy Institute.

UCU head of equality Jenny Sherrard said: 'This new research adds weight to our concerns about the government's focus on graduate employment outcomes as a proxy for teaching quality, when clearly the picture is much more complex and structural inequalities are skewing the landscape.

'The report's authors make a number of useful recommendations, but the higher education sector also needs to look closer to home when it comes to addressing the gender pay gap. Our four fights campaign has exposed the inequalities in higher education, including that women working in universities are paid 15% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be on precarious contracts with little job security.  Universities should be setting an example to their students and graduates by making it their priority to address this shameful inequality.'

UCU has published information on the gender pay gap in higher education and its four fights campaign on its website.

Last updated: 13 November 2020