Women and the education pay gap

Randstad report says despite making up three-quarters of the workforce, women's pay, retention and progression still an issue

Posted by Stephanie Broad | May 13, 2016 | People, policy, politics

• #randstad
• #education
• #women-in-work
• #equal-pay
• #pay-gap
• #recruitment
• #teachers

A new report from recruitment company Randstad says the education sector is full of talented women, but a pay gap and lack of progression still persists.

Three quarters of teachers are female, and the figure is almost 90% in primary schools. However, there are twice as many male headteachers in secondary schools as there are female.

MD of Randstad Education, Jenny Rollinson, introduces the report. She says: “Despite accounting for just a quarter of all teachers, a disproportionately high number of men end up in the top jobs instead whilst women occupy lower level roles on less pay.

“With the number of teachers leaving the profession increasing by 11% over the last three years to just over a quarter in the next 12 months, despite a £700m annual government spend on training, and another 53,000 teachers needed to meet demands by 2050, it is more essential than ever that women are paid equally and encouraged into leadership positions.

“Schools, regardless of status, must ensure transparency in their pay structures if they are to retain their talented female staff. Women though are fearful of asking, worried they will jeopardise their current job with an overwhelming 84% admitting they wouldn’t consider asking. More needs to be done to encourage women to ask for pay rises and support their training and development if the number of women becoming head teachers is to increase.”

Key takeaways from the report: 

• Three quarters of education professionals have had three or less pay rises in five years
• Women are less likely to ask for a pay rise than men
• A lack of confidence is holding women back
• Forty-three per cent believe the ‘glass ceiling’ still exists for women
• Education authorities need to do more to encourage women into senior positions 

Read the report at: www.randstad.co.uk/women-in-work