Fair employer
Efforts have been undertaken to strengthen the University’s commitment to creating and fostering a culture of equality and diversity.
Equality and diversity
The Dignity and Respect Policy reviewed and approved in February 2016 strengthens the University’s commitment to creating and fostering a culture of equality and diversity, dignity and respect and collegiality. The policy emphasises the responsibilities of individuals and managers and makes clear the seriousness with which the University will treat any complaint of bullying, harassment and/or discrimination.
A commitment to equality and diversity has also been demonstrated through the University’s efforts to work towards the Race Equality Charter Mark. A campaign to celebrate the diversity of the staff and student community, and promote the University’s efforts on equality and diversity issues was undertaken in 2015.
The University attained a prestigious Silver Institution award from the Athena SWAN initiative in 2016. Athena SWAN is a national scheme that recognises a commitment to supporting women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine in higher education. Edinburgh is one of only seven Institutions in the UK, and the first in Scotland, to hold this higher level of award. The School of Physics and Astronomy was awarded the prestigious Juno Champion status, recognising its commitment to gender equality. The School becomes Scotland's second Juno Champion and one of just nine UK university physics departments to be recognised in this way.
In 2015, the University enhanced its shared parental leave policy for staff, providing prospective and current parents with more choice and flexibility regarding the care of their child during the first year of its birth or adoption.
The Gender Pay Working Group has carried out work to identify the causes of the pay gap within Grade 10 of the University pay structure, the grade with the largest pay gap, and identify actions to address this. Work has been completed to ensure that equal pay considerations flow through the decision making process for recruitment, promotion and salary review.
Benchmarking data mapped to current salaries along with school level pay gaps have been presented and discussed with Heads of College to aid the salary review process with the main focus on the senior population where the pay gap is most significant.
In recognition of the increasing costs incurred by non-EEA nationals applying to enter and remain in the UK to work, we now reimburse the fees due by staff whose employment is sponsored by the University under Tier 2 of the points based immigration system, and by their accompanying dependants. We continue to offer interest free loans to non EEA staff who seek indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
Institutional Athena SWAN silver award
The University has been a member of the Athena SWAN charter since 2006 and was successful in obtaining the institutional Silver award in September 2015, the first HEI in Scotland (7th in the UK) to do so.
International applications for academic posts
Between 2013-14 and 2015-2016 the percentage of applications received for academic vacancies from non-UK nationals remained stable at slightly above 70%. This dropped slightly in 2015-2016 to just under 66%. In the light of the recent outcome of the EU referendum we will continue to monitor applications and offer acceptance rates for non-UK nationals.
Proportion of female academic staff appointed and promoted to lecturer, senior lecturer, reader and professor levels and reduce the pay gap for University staff
In 2016 5% of the male population and 4% of the female population applied and were promoted to professor level. The proportion of females to male within the professor level however remains low (25% female to 75%) but is slightly higher than that seen in other Russell Group Universities (23 %)
The Equal Pay Audit is published biennially, next audit covering all staff will be published in 2017.
The stats below are taken from the 2015 Audit.
- Grades UE01-UE10 – Mean pay gap is 16.66% (increased by 1.22% since 2013 report).
- Grades UE01-UE10 – Median pay gap is 13.67% (increased by 5.23% since 2013 report).
- There are no substantial pay gaps within grades 1 to 9 of the University pay structure. The largest, and only significant, mean pay gap is in the Grade 3 population at 5.37%. The mean and median pay gaps are significantly higher in the Grade 10 population at 11.3% and 9.26% respectively.
Youth and student employment
Since 2012, the University of Edinburgh has pledged to sustainably increase the number of job opportunities targeted towards young people, and to provide development in these roles to enhance future employability, as part of the Edinburgh Guarantee vision. The University has established a strong foundation of Youth and Student employment practices, for example the launch of the University’s Modern Apprenticeship policy and Easter Bush Campus becoming the first entity within the University to hold silver Investors in Young People status. Additionally, there are established employment initiatives available for our own students during semester and holidays through Employ.ed internships, managed by the Careers Service.
To build on these existing foundations, UHRS are about to commence the development of a University wide Youth and Student Employment strategy, which will outline key objectives and provide a framework for attracting, recruiting and developing youth and student talent. As well as our Edinburgh Guarantee pledge, this strategy directly links with one of the nine components (‘Invest in Youth’) within the Scottish Business Pledge.
Strategic relationships have been formed with a number of key partner organisations, such as JET (Job, Education and Training) Academy, Skills Development Scotland (SDS), Developing the Young Workforce, Ambitious Futures (DYW), Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Career Ready. Foundations are also in place to build closer collaborative links with local schools to encourage engagement with young people.
“The University has a proud tradition of contributing to the enhancement of our local community. Creating a diverse range of accessible employment and development opportunities for young people from the local Edinburgh Community is a key part of our role as a progressive and socially responsible employer. “
Zoe Lewandowski, Director of HR