The gender pay gap is the percentage difference between the average pay of men and women across the whole workforce. The ethnicity pay gap is the percentage difference between the average pay of staff identifying from different minority ethnic groups across the whole workforce.
UK legislation introduced in 2017 requires all organisations with 250 or more employees to publish their gender pay gap figures. These figures include the gender pay gap between both the mean and median average pay as well as average bonus payments. Information on the proportion of men and women that make up each staff pay quartile is also required. While organisations are not currently required to publish their ethnicity pay gap analysis, we have provided our ethnicity pay gap analysis below in a similar way.
What is the difference between the gender pay gap and equal pay?
It is important to note that gender pay gap analysis is not the same as equal pay analysis.
While the gender pay gap looks at the average pay difference across the whole workforce, equal pay is concerned with employees receiving equal pay for work that is the same or similar, or that is of equal value.
LSHTM undertakes a number of actions to ensure equal pay:
- Equal pay audits are carried out every two years.
- A transparent starting salary process is in place.
- All jobs are evaluated using the Higher Education Role Analysis (HERA) job evaluation scheme.
- Equal pay training is regularly provided for job evaluation panel members.
Progress has been made in applying consistent and fair salaries for senior academic staff with the introduction of professorial salary banding in 2016. A review of the HERA process at LSHTM was undertaken in 2018 to ensure this process is robust and effective for grading Professional Services posts. Both the professorial salary banding framework and HERA process place a strong focus on fairness and transparency in the setting of salary.
LSHTM uses a 54-point salary scale to ensure parity of salaries. Each year, staff experience is recognised with a salary increase to the next point in the scale until the top of the scale is reached. This is the principal mechanism for rewarding staff at LSHTM.
Once a year, staff may also apply for bonuses or accelerated incremental progression to recognise exceptional achievements. LSHTM awards bonuses to 1-2% of staff each year. Due to the low number of bonuses awarded, the bonus gap figure published as part of gender pay reporting is heavily skewed by the Director’s bonus (publicly available and disclosed as part of the annual report) which also falls into the reporting category.
LSHTM staff also receive the annual pay award paid to all HE staff each year.
Due to the measures above, we are confident that LSHTM’s gender pay gap does not stem from paying men and women differently for the same or equivalent work.
How does gender pay gap reporting apply to LSHTM?
In 2018, LSHTM’s talented and diverse staff community doubled in size when two MRC Units joined the School (in Uganda and The Gambia). We now have over 3000 staff, and for the first time have more people working overseas than in the UK.
However, the Gender Pay Gap reporting requirements only apply to staff subject to English, Scottish or Welsh employment law on the snapshot date (31 March each year). For LSHTM, this group includes all staff who hold contracts with LSHTM terms and conditions, 'International MRC staff, distance learning tutors and casual staff who received pay in the month leading up to the snapshot date. It does not include MRC staff who are employed by their unit locally in Uganda and The Gambia.
LSHTM gender pay gap figures
- 2024
Information about the pay of 1,914 LSHTM employees on the snapshot date (31 March 2023) was returned. Of those, 1,9041 were in receipt of their full pay on the snapshot date. 1,177 were female and 727 were male. For those staff, the gender pay gap data is as follows.
- Mean gender pay gap: 14.5%
- Median gender pay gap: 6.7%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 62.2%
- Median bonus pay gap: 0%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
- 2.4% of women
- 1.5% of men
Proportion of men and women in each quartile
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Upper Quartile 50.2% 49.8% Upper Middle Quartile 61.6% 38.4% Lower Middle Quartile 66.0% 34.0% Lower Quartile 69.5% 30.5% Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 61.9% were female, with the highest percentages of women at the less senior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions, the gender pay gap reflects this distribution.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 11 men and 28 women in the 2022/23 round.
- 2023
Information about the pay of 1,849 LSHTM employees on the snapshot date (31 March 2022) was returned. Of those, 1,835 were in receipt of their full pay on the snapshot date. 1,153 were female and 696 were male. For those staff, the gender pay gap data is as follows.
- Mean gender pay gap: 17.1%
- Median gender pay gap: 11.9%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 53.2%
- Median bonus pay gap: 12.5%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
- 1.5% of women
- 1.4% of men
Proportion of men and women in each quartile
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Upper Quartile 46.9% 53.1% Upper Middle Quartile 61.9% 38.1% Lower Middle Quartile 65.6% 34.4% Lower Quartile 74.1% 25.9% Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 62.1% were female, with the highest percentages of women at the less senior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions, the gender pay gap reflects this distribution.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 25 men and 28 women in the 2021/22 round.
- 2022
Information about the pay of 1,860 LSHTM employees on the snapshot date (31 March 2021) was returned. Of those, 1,825 were in receipt of their full pay on the snapshot date. 1,111 were female and 714 were male. For those staff, the gender pay gap data is as follows.
- Mean gender pay gap: 15.4%
- Median gender pay gap: 9.3%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 84.1%
- Median bonus pay gap: 50.0%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
- 1.2% of women
- 1.1% of men
Proportion of men and women in each quartile
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Upper quartile 45.8% 54.2% Upper middle quartile 61.6% 38.4% Lower middle quartile 65.8% 34.2% Lower quartile 70.2% 29.8% Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 60.9% were female, with the highest percentages of women at the less senior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions, the gender pay gap reflects this distribution.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 8 men and 14 women in the 2020/21 round.
- 2021
Information about the pay of 1,772 LSHTM employees was returned (i.e. those on the UK payroll who were eligible for inclusion on the snapshot date), of whom 1,093 were female and 679 were male. For those staff, the gender pay gap data is as follows.
Hourly rate
- Mean gender pay gap: 17.7%
- Median gender pay gap: 10.2%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 92.8%
- Median bonus pay gap: 92.8%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Top quartile 45.4% 54.5% Upper middle quartile 63.0% 37.0% Lower middle quartile 65.2% 34.8% Lower quartile 74.8% 25.2% Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 62% were female, with the highest percentages of women at the less senior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions, the gender pay gap reflects this distribution.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 2 men and 9 women in the 2020/21 round.
- 2020
Whilst the government has suspended the mandatory requirement for organisations to submit their Gender Pay Gap figures in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have taken the decision to publish our gender pay gap figures in the interest of transparency and to demonstrate our continued commitment to EDI.
Information about the pay of 1,704 LSHTM employees was returned (i.e. those on the UK payroll), of whom 1,046 were female and 658 were male. For those staff, the gender pay gap data is as follows.
Hourly rate
- Mean gender pay gap: 16.9%
- Median gender pay gap: 9.4%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 78.3%
- Median bonus pay gap: 97.5%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
- 1.6% of women
- 0.3% of men
Proportion of men and women in each quartile
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Top quartile 45.5% 54.5% Upper middle quartile 62.0% 38.0% Lower middle quartile 64.6% 35.4% Lower quartile 71.3% 28.7% Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 61% were female, with the highest percentages of women at the less senior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions, the gender pay gap reflects this distribution.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 2 men and 17 women in the 2019/20 round.
Gender Pay Gap analysis and comparator reviews with other higher education employers will be available once these figures are published.
- 2019
Information about the pay of 1,604 LSHTM employees was returned (i.e. those on the UK payroll), of whom 997 were female and 607 were male. For those staff, the gender pay gap data is as follows.
Hourly rate
- Mean gender pay gap: 18.3%
- Median gender pay gap: 12.5%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 93.9%
- Median bonus pay gap: 60.4%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
- 1.2% of women
- 1.3% of men
Proportion of men and women in each quartile
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Top quartile 45.3% 54.7% Upper middle quartile 63.9% 36.1% Lower middle quartile 66.9% 33.1% Lower quartile 72.2% 27.8% Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 62% were female, with the highest percentages of women at the less senior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions, the gender pay gap reflects this distribution.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 8 men and 12 women in the 2017/18 round. It is a positive step that the awarding of bonuses in 2017/18 was proportional to the staff pool, however a gap in value still exists. A possible explanation for this gap arising is the link between staff salary and bonus value, which sees men, who are typically in higher-paying roles, receive bonuses of a greater value.
Gender Pay Gap analysis and comparator reviews with other higher education employers will be available once these figures are published.
- 2018
On the snapshot date (31 March 2017) LSHTM employed 1,550 staff of whom 979 were female and 571 were male.
Hourly rate
- Mean gender pay gap: 18.0%
- Median gender pay gap: 9.4%
Bonus pay
- Mean bonus pay gap: 60.8%
- Median bonus pay gap: 50.0%
Proportion of staff group who received a bonus
- 2.9% of women
- 4.9% of men
Proportion of men and women in each quartile:
Quartile % women in quartile % men in quartile Top quartile 46.7% 53.3% Upper middle quartile 64.4% 35.6% Lower middle quartile 67.5% 32.5% Lower quartile 71.8% 28.2% At the snapshot date, 63% of LSHTM staff were female, with the highest percentages of women at the more junior grades. As with other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), the gender pay gap reflects this weighting.
LSHTM awarded bonuses to 28 men and 28 women in the 2016/17 round. The bonus gap arises from proportionately fewer women being awarded bonuses, and the link between staff salary and bonus value. Therefore, men were more likely to receive a higher value of bonus in comparison to women.
Gender pay gap analysis and comparisons with the sector will be available once other institutions have published their figures.
LSHTM is proud of the diversity of its staff and student bodies. LSHTM’s current workforce is 62% female, and women account for 66% of our student population. Whilst there is more work to be done, initiatives are already in place to increase the proportion of women in senior grades, both for academic and professional services roles. LSHTM strives to ensure that principles of equality, diversity and inclusion are engendered by all staff, and are at the heart of our policies, procedures, and our ethos.
Ethnicity pay gap reporting at LSHTM
- 2023
Information about the pay of 1,835 LSHTM employees was returned (i.e. those on the UK payroll who were eligible for inclusion on the snapshot date), of whom 1,171 identified as white and 589 as from an ethnic minority, 75 not known.
For those staff, the average hourly pay gap by ethnicity data is outlined in the table below.
Ethnicity n Median Mean Asian 240 11.0% 15.3% Black 213 13.1% 19.8% Mixed 81 7.1% 10.5% Other 55 8.1% 13.4% White 1171 Not Known 75 -7.4% -5.6% Pay quartiles
Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 32.1% identified as from an ethnic minority group, with the highest percentages of staff from an ethnic minority group at the less senior grades.
The proportion of staff in each pay quartile is outlined in the table below.
Pay quartile / ethnicity Upper Upper middle Lower middle Lower Asian 8.3% 11.1% 14.2% 19.0% Black 5.9% 10.9% 12.6% 16.8% Mixed 3.5% 4.1% 4.4% 5.7% Other 1.7% 2.6% 3.9% 3.7% White 75.1% 66.0% 61.0% 53.2% Not Known 5.5% 5.2% 3.9% 1.7% - 2022
Information about the pay of 1,825 LSHTM employees was returned (i.e. those on the UK payroll who were eligible for inclusion on the snapshot date), of whom 1,221 identified as white and 518 as from an ethnic minority, 86 not known.
For those staff, the average hourly pay gap by ethnicity data is outlined in the table below.
Ethnicity n Median Mean Asian 170 6.4% 9.2% Black 184 9.1% 18.1% Mixed 85 12.3% 11.4% Other 79 8.5% 15.1% White 1221 Not known 86 -0.4% -0.7% Pay quartiles
Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 28.4% identified as from an ethnic minority group, with the highest percentages of staff from an ethnic minority group at the less senior grades.
The proportion of staff in each pay quartile is outlined in the table below.
Pay quartile / ethnicity Upper Upper middle Lower middle Lower Asian 7.5% 8.9% 9% 11.9% Black 4.4% 10.8% 10.5% 14.6% Mixed 4.1% 3.4% 4.7% 6.3% Not known 6.4% 4.4% 4.9% 3.2% Other 2.2% 2.9% 6.4% 5.8% White 75.5% 69.6% 64.5% 58.1% - 2021
Information about the pay of 1,772 LSHTM employees was returned (i.e. those on the UK payroll who were eligible for inclusion on the snapshot date), of whom 1217 identified as white and 468 as from an ethnic minority, 87 (5%) not known.
For those staff, the average hourly pay gap by ethnicity data is outlined in the table below.
Ethnicity n Median Mean Asian 155 5.2% 12.1% Black 160 10.2% 16.6% Mixed 83 10.2% 9.4% Other 70 10.2% 16.5% White 1217 Not known 87 -6.3% -5.8% The pay gaps have been calculated by comparison with the white staff group, as this was the highest paid group apart from the ‘Not known’ group.
Pay quartiles
Of the staff captured by the snapshot, 26.40% identified as from an ethnic minority group, with the highest percentages of staff from an ethnic minority group at the less senior grades.
The proportion of staff in each pay quartile is outlined in the table below.
Pay quartile / ethnicity Upper Upper middle Lower middle Lower Asian 6.8% 8.1% 8.6% 11.5% Black 4.7% 8.4% 10.6% 12.4% Mixed 4.3% 3.6% 4.7% 6.1% Not known 6.3% 6.1% 5.0% 2.3% Other 2.0% 2.5% 5.2% 6.1% White 75.8% 71.3% 65.9% 61.6%
What are the causes of the gender and ethnicity pay gaps and what are we doing about it?
The gender pay gap is the result of the higher representation of women in lower grades compared to the representation in higher grades within a workforce. The causes of the gender pay gap are multifaceted and could include barriers to progression to more senior roles, lower rates of recruitment of women to senior roles, the impact of extended periods of leave (e.g. maternity leave) on career progression and the greater likelihood of women having caring responsibilities compared to men. Similarly, the ethnicity pay gap is the result of the higher representation of minority ethnic staff in lower grades compared to the representation in higher grades within a workforce.
At LSHTM, we are committed to and working towards eliminating the gender and ethnicity pay gaps.
LSHTM has been working on improving and progressing gender equality via Advance HE’s Athena Swan charter Our institutional Athena SWAN action plan includes actions committed to increasing the proportion of women in senior grades, for both academic and professional services roles.
We have been progressing race equality via our EDI action plan and recent Independent review. We have also recently signed up to the Race Equality Charter.
These actions include:
- Promotion and career development
- Each year, a review of LSHTM’s academic promotions and staff review procedures takes place with the intention of refining procedures to keep them in line with best practice and to ensure these processes are fair and accessible to all staff. An academic CV review process has been introduced in recent years which has enabled access to career development advice, this has had a positive impact on promotion success.
- Going forward - We will further develop the CV review process, identifying any gaps and encouraging more consistent take up. We will also develop and use positive action within academic career development support to close pipeline gaps, including use of CV review processes and follow up career development support.
- Recruitment processes
- Analysis of our recruitment data shows that when women apply for jobs they are just as likely to progress through the recruitment process as men. However, this analysis also shows that fewer women apply to higher grades, for both academic and professional services posts. Analysis also shows that BAME applicants are less likely to progress through the recruitment process than white applicants.
- Going forward – We will develop and implement an inclusive and intersectional recruitment and selection strategy, developing a workplan to ensure implementation, including, for example, provision of inclusive recruitment guidance to recruiting managers, strategies to attract more women and minority ethnic applicants to senior posts and development of an approach to enable greater diversity on interview panels. For professional services recruitment, ‘anonymised shortlisting’ was introduced in February 2020 and further EDI analysis is required to determine whether this has had any impact on shortlisting and appointment rates.
- Family friendly policies
- We are committed to identifying and addressing barriers experienced in relation to maternity (or other family related) leave or flexible working. We have a review of family leave policies planned during 2021/22 and are also piloting workshops for new and expectant parents.