Foreword by Ottoline
As a steward of the UK’s research and innovation system, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) strives to be a diverse and inclusive organisation, capturing the benefits of open-minded sharing of different ideas, expertise and experiences in everything that we do. This requires a working environment in which everyone feels valued, respected and supported to thrive.
Our strategy sets out four principles for change underpinning the more connected and agile research and innovation system that the UK needs:
- diversity
- connectivity
- resilience
- engagement
Equality, diversity and inclusion are a central part of our vision for an outstanding research and innovation system to which everybody can contribute and from which everyone benefits.
We cannot effectively champion equality, diversity and inclusion across the sector unless we robustly hold ourselves to account on delivering on these ambitions and ensure that we continuously improve through evidence-based action. Our gender pay gap report is one element of this work.
This report is the sixth since UKRI was established, and the data within it form part of our annual cycle of reporting to influence our equality, diversity and inclusion action plan. It provides us with an opportunity to understand trends and to evaluate the impact of mitigating actions.
While there is a downward trend in our mean gender pay gap, progress is slow and there is much more to do to understand what drives our gender pay gap and to address it, some of which we set out in this report.
As UKRI matures as an organisation, there is an opportunity to reap the benefits of bringing together its nine constituent founding organisations to build diverse career paths across UKRI, and this is something we are working to develop.
For the fourth year, we are also publishing our ethnicity pay gap. While we have some way to go to collect the full data we need to assess this, it is a step towards understanding the ethnic inequality within our workforce.
We are working hard to create the conditions that enable our staff to share data confidently, and in a way that allows us to draw informed conclusions. We recognise the important role that UKRI has in the wider research and innovation system, and it is vital that we hold ourselves to account for becoming the best organisation we can be.
By Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, Chief Executive, UKRI
About UKRI
UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Our mission is to convene, catalyse and invest in close collaboration with others to build a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system that connects discovery to prosperity and public good.
Our organisation brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. UKRI has a great depth and breadth of expertise, allowing us to connect research communities, institutions, businesses and wider society, in the UK and around the world.
This combination enables us to work across the whole research and innovation system, informed by our networks and expertise. Alongside its research and innovation investment activities, UKRI also owns and maintains significant research facilities which contribute to the UK research and innovation base.
Our structure
We are a diverse organisation employing highly specialised people across the globe, from Antarctic researchers and specialist enabling staff (for example, mariners and engineers) to office-based employees in the UK and at our international offices.
Although UKRI is made up of various councils, institutes and units, the analysis and discussion in this report is presented for the whole of UKRI as a single employer for the year ending 31 March 2024.
UKRI operates a grading system underpinned by a job evaluation system. Bands reflect the level of responsibility that individuals have, with each band having a set pay range. Our main band range begins at Band A, the most junior band, and ends at Band H, the most senior main band. Our most senior roles are identified as Band X and Y.
The overall gender distribution as of March 2024 was 46% female and 54% male. The overall proportions of males and females have remained largely static since UKRI’s inception in 2018.
The workforce is more polarised when comparing research-facing and professional enabling areas. Females make up 63% of professional enabling roles and 34% of research-facing roles. This does reflect the sector, where professions in some areas of science and engineering have tended to be more male dominated. Our work on talent pooling, attraction and outreach continues to support and encourage more females into the sector.
As of 1 July 2022, roles directly focused on research delivery within our science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) areas in the Medical Research Council (MRC), Natural Environment Research Council and Science and Technology Facilities Council were moved on to new pay scales (S1 and S2). This move was made to address evidenced acute difficulties in recruitment and retention, and assignment of roles to the new pay ranges was informed by benchmarking of the roles in scope.
In general, S1 roles are engineering, technician and some digital roles, and S2 roles are scientific with some digital roles. The majority of employees sit within the main scale (55%) with S1 and S2 containing a similar number of employees, at 24% and 22% respectively. In S1 and S2, there are more males than females with the proportion of males sat at 81% and 60% respectively.
The gender pay gap is largely influenced by distribution of males and females within the workforce rather than differences in pay within the bands. A more detailed analysis of equal pay will be published in the 2024 Equal Pay Audit.
The table below shows the gender representation across the overall UKRI workforce, in descending order of seniority (Band Y being the highest).
Table 1: representation of employees by band in UKRI
| Row labels | Male | Female | Overall employee count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band Y | 47% | 53% | 19 |
| Band X | 62% | 38% | 105 |
| Band H | 66% | 34% | 117 |
| Band G | 58% | 42% | 441 |
| Band F | 59% | 41% | 1,172 |
| Band E | 55% | 45% | 2,216 |
| Band D | 52% | 48% | 2,112 |
| Band C | 45% | 55% | 1,078 |
| Band B | 49% | 51% | 350 |
| Band A | 76% | 24% | 196 |
| Other | 72% | 28% | 248 |
| Total | 55% | 45% | 8,054 |
Employees captured in the band labelled as ‘Other’ are employees that do not have a main band equivalent due to being on very specific pay scales, for example mariners and pilots.
The data in table 1 shows that there is generally a proportionately higher representation of males in the more senior bands H and X, but this representation gap is closed in the highest band Y.
Gender pay gap reporting
Gender pay gap (GPG) data sets out the difference between the average pay of all females compared to the average pay of all males within the organisation, regardless of level or type of work carried out. This means that the representation of male and female staff within the workforce will have an impact on the GPG. A positive figure indicates a pay gap in favour of males, and a negative figure indicates a gap in favour of females.
The GPG is different to equal pay. Equal pay compares pay differences between males and females who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value.
There is also increasing interest in understanding the pay gaps by ethnicity. Further analysis is detailed later in this report.
Methodology
In 2017, the government introduced legislation that made it statutory for all organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their gender pay gap.
In order to comply with government legislation, the gender pay gap must be calculated as the difference between average hourly earnings (excluding overtime) of males and females as a proportion of males’ average hourly earnings (excluding overtime). It is a measure across all jobs in the UK, not of the difference in pay between males and females for doing the same job.
The regulations require annual gender pay gap reporting including:
- mean and median gender pay gap
- the proportions of males and females in each pay quartile
- the mean and median gender bonus gap
- the proportion of males and females who received bonuses
Current reporting guidelines require us to segment the population by males and females. To meet reporting responsibilities, data on sex is used in this report.
We encourage all employees to share their diversity data with us, which includes:
- ethnicity
- disability status
- sexual orientation
- gender identity
By sharing diversity data our employees are helping us collect accurate data which offers insights into the representation and diversity of our workforce.
The data used to calculate the UKRI gender pay gap is as of 31 March 2024. The mean shows the difference between the average hourly earnings of males and females by taking the total pay of females and dividing this by the number of females, and the same for males.
The median is found by lining up all employees’ pay in two lines, one for females, one for males, in order of pay from highest to lowest. The median gender pay gap then compares the pay difference between the male and the female in the middle of the respective lines.
Pay award
This 2024 GPG report uses data that reflects money actually paid through the March 2024 pay period, which includes 31 March 2024, and bonuses paid during the year preceding 31 March 2024 as per the government guidance. Therefore, this report contains data that reflects the 2022 and 2023 pay awards as they were paid on 31 October 2023 and 31 December 2023 respectively.
UKRI's gender pay gap
Table 2: mean and median gender pay gap in 2022 to 2024
| 31 March 2024 | 31 March 2023 | 31 March 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean gender pay gap | 9.0% | 8.3% | 9.6% |
| Median gender pay gap | 7.5% | 5.0% | 8.7% |
Table 2 shows that since 2023, the mean GPG has widened by 0.7 percentage points, and the median GPG has increased by 2.5 percentage points. In other words, for every £1 that males earn, on average females earned 91p. UKRI’s mean GPG is 1.3 percentage points higher than the UK national GPG, which stands at 7.7% as at April 2023 (source: Gender pay gap in the UK – Office for National Statistics).
The 2022 pay award increased the salaries of employees in research delivery roles (S1 and S2) to address external pay market pressures. In this cohort there is a higher proportion of males than females compared to the total UKRI employee population (Figure 1). For this reason the data shows a widening of the GPG in 2024, however, the overall trend since 2022 shows the GPG narrowing.
The introduction of the S1 and S2 scales has increased employees’ pay for those in roles in scope of these new arrangements. The change in this demographic is illustrated by the widening in the overall mean and median pay gap. Focusing solely on the S1 and S2 population, the mean GPG was 6.0%, 2.3 percentage points narrower than the 2023 GPG for the whole of UKRI. The 2024 median Gender Pay Gap (GPG) for this group was 2.9%, 2.1 percentage points narrower than 2023.
Figure 1: Gender split for STEM pay scale compared to the total population
Figure 1 shows the gender split for STEM pay scale compared to the total population.
Distribution as a driver of the gender pay gap
It is apparent that the distribution of males and females in the organisation is a key driver of the GPG. Therefore, examining the GPG by quartile highlights where the gaps have the most impact on the overall figures.
Following Royal Statistical Society guidance, we also publish the median hourly GPG by quartile.
Figure 2: Median gender pay gap by quartile
Figure 2 shows the median gender pay gap by quartile.
Figure 2 shows that the median GPG of the lower quartile and upper quartile is -1.7% and -1.6% respectively, meaning that for every £1 the median female earned, the median male earned 98p. The lower middle quartile has the highest pay gap at 2.1%.
The GPG of the middle quartiles and upper quartile have decreased from the 2023, with the upper quartile decreasing from 4.8% to -1.6%. The lower quartile GPG has increased by 1.3 percentage points in favour of females, compared to 2023.
Table 3: percentage of males and females in each pay quartile
| Pay quartile | % males | % females |
|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 45% | 55% |
| Lower middle quartile | 50% | 45% |
| Upper middle quartile | 58% | 42% |
| Upper quartile | 65% | 35% |
Table 3 shows the percentage of females and males within each pay quartile for the year ending 31 March 2024. The only quartile where females occupied a higher proportion of the employee population is the lower quartile at 55%.
The proportion of females in each quartile trends downwards from the lower quartile to the upper quartile, with the upper quartile having the lowest proportion of females at 35%.
The majority of the quartiles have remained largely constant compared to the previous year, apart from the upper quartile where proportion of females has decreased from 46% to 35%. The introduction of the STEM pay grades can explain this decrease, due to the higher rates and the greater proportion of males in these roles. Looking at the non-STEM population, the proportion of females is 49% in the upper quartile, whilst in the STEM population the proportion of females is 19%.
UKRI’s gender bonus pay gap
The bonus GPG is the difference between the average bonus pay of all females compared to the average bonus pay of all males within the organisation. A positive figure indicates a bonus pay gap in favour of males and a negative figure indicates a bonus pay gap in favour of females. As for the overall GPG, both the mean and median bonus GPGs are published.
Table 4: mean and median bonus gender pay gap for 2022 to 2024
| 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 | 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 | 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean bonus gender pay gap | 8.3% | 15.0% | 10.1% |
| Median bonus gender pay gap | -21.9% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
During year ending 31 March 2024, 96% of females employed by UKRI received a bonus compared with 95% of males. This includes the Achieves Expectations bonus awarded as part of the End of Year Awards. The mean bonus GPG is 8.3%, a decrease of 7.3 percentage points compared to last year.
The median gap has widened from 0% to -21.9%. It is important to note when comparing the median bonuses between males and females, the difference is less than £100, however, because the overall median bonus was £340, a £100 variance in the medians can lead to large percentage shifts in the bonus pay gap.
UKRI operates several bonus schemes including instant recognition vouchers, in-year monetary awards and end of year awards linked to performance.
Senior bands (Band X and Y and above) are only eligible for end-of-year performance related awards, with bonuses being paid only to top performers in the appraisal year.
Table 5: bonuses awarded to UKRI employees during year ending 31 March 2024 by gender and award type
| Type of award | Percentage of all females receiving awards | Percentage of all males receiving awards | Mean award amount, females | Mean award amount, males |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instant | 22% | 17% | £100 | £100 |
| In year | 40% | 36% | £424 | £360 |
| End year | 98% | 98% | £490 | £514 |
| Senior bonus | 54% | 53% | £5013 | £6589 |
| All bonus | 97% | 96% | £718 | £783 |
Instant and in-year awards are nominated and paid throughout the year.
Percentages for instant, in-year and end of year bonuses are calculated for employees in main bands, whereas percentages for senior bonus are calculated for employees in senior bands X and Y.
Figures are rounded to nearest whole number.
Drivers of the bonus pay gap
The gap can be explained by larger bonus amounts awarded to staff in higher pay quartiles, where there are higher proportions of males. To explain this further, table 6 shows the average amount and percentage of different types of awards for males and females.
A larger proportion of females received instant and in-year awards than males, which are of a lower value than senior awards. The percentage of males and females receiving end of year awards were similar, however, the average amount was higher for females.
The proportion of females receiving a bonus in senior bands was higher than males, however, the mean award amount for senior bonuses was higher for males. It is important to note that the proportion of males in senior bands is higher than females.
Due to bonuses being awarded for performance, the bonus GPG will vary year to year. However, a driving force behind this GPG may be the contractual bonus pay arrangements for senior staff in Innovate UK and the Medical Research Council (MRC), which are higher than bonus pay arrangements in the rest of UKRI and which pre-date the formation of UKRI.
These impacted on the overall difference seen in the senior and end of year bonus amounts between males and females across the whole of UKRI, due to representation of males being higher in this cadre.
UKRI’s ethnicity pay gap data
In 2021 UKRI published ethnicity pay gap data for the first time to increase transparency and endeavour to understand if there are any differences in pay between ethnic groups within the organisation.
Ethnicity pay gap (EPG) data sets out the difference in average pay of all minority ethnic employees compared to the average pay of all white employees, regardless of the level or type of work carried out. A positive figure indicates a pay gap in favour of white employees, and a negative figure indicates a gap in favour of minority ethnic employees.
Due to the small number of employees identified in each minority ethnic group, all minority ethnic groups were aggregated into one larger ‘minority ethnic group’, this group consisted of all employees reporting an ethnicity different to White – British. This is in line with the government’s preferred style when writing about ethnicity (GOV.uk). This was to enable more statistically robust comparisons and to preserve anonymity.
We recognise that aggregating ethnic groups in this way can mask the experiences, differences and disparities of individual ethnicities, and will seek to encourage more employees to share their ethnicity to enable more detailed analysis in the future.
Table 6 shows the mean and median EPG for UKRI in 2024. On 31 March 2024, UKRI had a mean EPG of -2%. The median EPG was -1%. In other words, for every £1 that the mean minority ethnic employee earned, the mean White – British employee across the whole of UKRI earned 98p.
Table 6: UKRI’s ethnicity pay gap, 2024
| EPG 2024 | EPG 2023 | EPG 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ethnicity pay gap | -2.0% | 5.1% | 6.2% |
| Median ethnicity pay gap | -1.0% | 1.3% | 0.2% |
The EPG has decreased since 2022. However, when comparing this data, it should be noted that due to sharing of this information being voluntary we do not have the ethnicity data for a large group of employees.
Another factor that may help explain the decrease in the EPG is the higher representation of Minority ethnic employees on the S1 and S2 pay scales. 51% of all declared Minority ethnic employees are on S1 and S2 scales, compared to 45% of White – British employees. As a result, the salary increases from the 2022 pay award likely contributed to the observed changes in the EPG when comparing it to 2023.
40% of our employee population have not declared their ethnicity data, this has increased from last year (33%). This may explain some of the variance in the EPG from 2023 to 2024.
Table 7: number of employees in ethnic groups across UKRI
| Number of employees | % of employees | |
|---|---|---|
| Employees reporting White – British background | 3771 | 46.82% |
| Employees reporting minority ethnic background | 1096 | 13.61% |
| Missing information on ethnic background | 3187 | 39.57% |
Figure 3: Ethnicity split for STEM pay scale compared to the total UKRI population
Figure 3 shows the ethnicity split for STEM pay scale compared to the total UKRI population.
UKRI’s ethnicity pay gap data for bonuses
Bonus ethnicity pay gap data sets out the difference in bonus pay of all minority ethnic employees compared to the average pay of all White – British employees, regardless of the level or type of work carried out. A positive figure indicates a bonus pay gap in favour of white employees, and a negative figure indicates a bonus pay gap in favour of minority ethnic employees. This is the first time UKRI has reported the ethnicity pay gap for bonuses.
Table 8 shows the mean and median bonus EPG for UKRI in 2024. On 31 March 2024, UKRI had a mean bonus EPG of -10.7%. The median EPG was 29.4%. As with the bonus GPG, it is important to note when interpreting this statistic that the bonus amounts are relatively small, therefore small monetary variances in the medians can lead to large percentage shifts in the bonus pay gap.
Table 8: UKRI’s bonus ethnicity pay gap, 2024
| 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 | |
|---|---|
| Mean bonus ethnicity pay gap | -10.7% |
| Median bonus ethnicity pay gap | 29.4% |
How we are fostering a more inclusive UKRI
UKRI is committed to creating an inclusive culture that supports a diversity of people, ideas and skills, where people can flourish and achieve their full potential. We continue to deliver on the priorities set out in our Workforce Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plan. Progress against our priorities is shared in our annual workforce equality monitoring report.
We believe that this work is the best way to address our gender pay gap. Next we share an insight into some of our priorities which contribute to narrowing our gender pay gap.
Building a culture of dignity, respect and inclusion
We are making significant progress towards building a culture of dignity, respect and inclusion. In July 2024, we published our action plan for tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination which embodies our commitment to addressing systemic causes, ensuring a workplace where everyone feels safe, respected, valued and empowered in their work.
Through this programme and our broader initiatives on employee experience, we are creating an environment where diverse perspectives, skills and experiences are valued and contribute to a successful research and innovation system.
Inclusive recruitment
We are taking significant steps to ensure that we have inclusive and equitable recruitment and selection processes that attract diverse talent. A priority action has been analysing our recruitment data to identify any existing biases or disparities in outcomes.
Following this, we will review our entire recruitment and selection process, including recruitment to our governance boards, to eliminate any biases and ensure our practices are fair and inclusive for all.
Developing leaders
We have also embedded inclusive leadership behaviours into our leadership development programmes, equipping our leaders with the skills and awareness to create an environment where every individual feels heard, valued and respected.
Supporting diverse talent
Research and Innovation success is underpinned by our ability to attract, develop and invest in a diversity of people, ideas and skills. This year, working with the 10,000 Interns Foundation, we welcomed 23 Black and disabled interns, offering them an insight into careers in research and innovation. The programme supports our pipeline of early career colleagues who bring unique ideas and skills to UKRI.
We have utilised analytics to target a broad range of universities to support attraction of a diverse range of graduates into our early career schemes, and are continuing to use an augmented writing tool to shape our jobs adverts in an inclusive way.
In the coming year, we will embed EDI in our Talent Attraction Framework, Career Frameworks and strategic workforce planning to support our objective of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. We will also build a robust evidence base to develop and implement effective programmes for diverse talent. This will enable us to tailor our talent and development initiatives that target the needs of diverse groups in UKRI.
Recognising our progress on gender equality
Our gender equality plan outlines specific actions we are taking to support gender equality. Actions we have delivered against the plan this year include:
- supporting the development of our staff networks, particularly Women and Gender Equity, Pride, and Racial Inclusion and Striving for Equity networks, to provide peer support on shared experiences
- along with our EDI training curriculum, we developed resources and signposting to raise awareness of sexism, sexual harassment and gender-based violence
- British Geological Survey achieved a Silver Athena Swan award in recognition of their progress towards creating an inclusive environment
- UKRI became recognised as a Carer Confident Active Employer, acknowledging our commitment and progress in ensuring carers are recognised, supported and have fulfilling careers at UKRI