Gender and ethnicity pay gap
Our vision to transform lives reflects the ambition and values that are central to the University of Hertfordshire. It is built on the belief that whatever your identity and background, and wherever you are from, we will power the potential of our staff and drive you to succeed.
Equality is a key component of that and embedded in the People and Values strand of our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan to both strengthen and value the diversity and inclusivity of our community. This includes gender and ethnic equality, where we celebrate the diversity of our work force and seek to provide a positive working and learning environment free from discrimination.

Gender pay gap
We have reduced our mean pay gap over the last five years from 13% to 7.95%

Ethnicity pay gap
Our mean gap has reduced in the last three years from 15.12% to 7.6%

Ethnicity bonus gap
We have reduced our ethnicity mean bonus gap from 24.63% to 15.82%
We're pleased that as a result of our work, pay gaps are reducing, but also know there is still more work to be done. It's why we are continuing to review our initiatives and policies at every level to ensure fairness and transparency, and to create a positive working environment that embraces and upholds equality.
We already implemented a range of actions in place to address the pay gaps and under-representation in the workplace. These activities include: encouraging staff attendance on Advance Higher Education development programmes, enhancing leadership development and addressing systemic inequalities; implementing anonymous shortlisting and panel diversity to ensure our recruitment and selection process is fully inclusive and free from unconscious bias; delivering career development workshops and encouraging under-represented groups to attend so they have the confidence to reach their full potential; redesigning work patterns to enable applicants who want to work part-time; reviewing Technician Commitment action plans with particular attention to career paths; regularly reviewing equal pay when renewing contracts, and continuing to advance our Athena Swan and Race Equality action plans.
Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap measures the difference in average pay between women and men, and is impacted by the number of women and men in different roles in an organisation. Since we started sharing our data five years ago our mean gap has reduced from 13% in 2018 to 7.95% in 2023.
Breakdown by quartile band
We examined the data for 3,166 staff: 1,850 women and 1,316 men.
Quartile band | Female | Male | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Lower | 526 (66%) | 265 (34%) | 791 |
Lower Middle | 477 (60%) | 315 (40%) | 792 |
Upper Middle | 417 (53%) | 374 (47%) | 791 |
Upper | 430 (54%) | 362 (46%) | 792 |
Grand total | 1,850 (58%) | 1,316 (42%) | 3,166 |
Quartile band | Female | Male | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Lower | 562 (72%) | 214 (28%) | 776 |
Lower Middle | 450 (58%) | 325 (42%) | 775 |
Upper Middle | 426 (55%) | 347 (45%) | 773 |
Upper | 416 (54%) | 357 (46%) | 773 |
Grand total | 1,854 (60%) | 1,243 (40%) | 3,097 |
Quartile band | Female | Male | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Lower | 538 (65%) | 291 (35%) | 829 |
Lower Middle | 521 (63%) | 306 (37%) | 827 |
Upper Middle | 459 (55%) | 369 (45%) | 826 |
Upper | 423 (51%) | 406 (49%) | 829 |
Grand total | 1,941 (59%) | 1,372 (41%) | 3,313 |
Quartile band | Female | Male | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Lower | 573 (71%) | 232 (29%) | 805 |
Lower Middle | 503 (62%) | 304 (38%) | 807 |
Upper Middle | 451 (56%) | 353 (44%) | 804 |
Upper | 425 (53%) | 379 (47%) | 804 |
Grand total | 1,952 | 1,268 | 3,220 |
Our gender pay data
The difference between women and men staff average rates of pay

Mean gender pay gap hourly rate of pay

Median gender pay gap hourly rate of pay

Mean gender pay gap bonus pay

Median gender pay gap bonus pay
Rate of pay | 2023 Mean (average) | 2023 Median (middle) |
---|---|---|
Hourly rate of pay for women | £22.85 | £21.20 |
Hourly rate of pay for men | £24.82 | £22.56 |
The gap in both the mean and median rates of pay has narrowed since 2018 but remains in favour of men. This is largely linked to the over-representation of women within the lowest hourly rates of pay, and an underrepresentation of women within the highest hourly rates of pay.
As a Bronze Athena Swan organisation, we are committed to eliminating gender bias and ensuring equality in recruitment, development and career advancement. Read more about our Athena Swan progress and action plan here.
Proportion of women and men paid a bonus
Gender | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Women | 75.5% | 75.8% | 65.20% | 66.66% |
Men | 76.3% | 79.2% | 61.20% | 66.27% |
There were 2,642 staff members who received bonus pay in 2022 primarily through the Christmas bonus scheme, which was open to staff who had been in post from 1 October 2021 to 31 July 2022. The proportional bonus gap by gender has reduced slightly from 3.4% in 2022 to 0.8%, marginally in favour of male staff.
Ethnicity pay gap
The data on our mean ethnicity pay gap since we began to report in 2020 shows consistent reduction year on year. In 2020 our gap was 15.12%; in 2023 it is 7.6%.
The proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff within this year’s snapshot data shows an increase from 21.7% to 23.3%.
Breakdown by quartile band
We examined the data for 3,166 staff: 738 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff; 2,296 white staff, and 132 information unknown.
Quartile band | Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic | White | Refused/Unknown | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | 212 (27%) | 541 (68%) | 38 (5%) | 791 |
Lower Middle | 172 (22%) | 574 (72%) | 46 (6%) | 792 |
Upper Middle | 191 (24%) | 581 (73%) | 19 (2%) | 791 |
Upper | 163 (21%) | 600 (76%) | 29 (4%) | 792 |
Grand total | 738 (23%) | 2,296 (73%) | 132 (4%) | 3,166 |
Quartile band | Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic | White | Refused/Unknown | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | 191 (25%) | 559 (72%) | 26 (3%) | 776 |
Lower Middle | 168 (22%) | 579 (75%) | 28 (3%) | 775 |
Upper Middle | 175 (23%) | 572 (74%) | 26 (3%) | 773 |
Upper | 137 (18%) | 620 (80%) | 16 (2%) | 773 |
Grand total | 671 (21.7%) | 2,330 (75.3%) | 96 (3.0%) | 3,097 |
Quartile band | Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic | White | Refused/unknown | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | 245 (30%) | 553 (67%) | 31 (3%) | 829 |
Lower Middle | 142 (17%) | 640 (77%) | 45 (6%) | 827 |
Upper Middle | 186 (22%) | 614 (74%) | 28 (4%) | 828 |
Upper | 126 (15%) | 675 (81%) | 28 (4%) | 829 |
Grand total | 699 (21%) | 2,482 (75%) | 132 (4%) | 3,313 |
Quartile band | Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic | White | Refused/unknown | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | 210 (26%) | 570 (71%) | 25 (3%) | 805 |
Lower Middle | 157 (20%) | 598 (74%) | 52 (6%) | 807 |
Upper Middle | 165 (21%) | 604 (75%) | 35 (4%) | 804 |
Upper | 98 (12%) | 677 (84%) | 29 (4%) | 804 |
Grand total | 630 (20%) | 2,449 (76%) | 141 (4%) | 3,220 |
Since 2022 there has been a reduction of white staff across all quartiles, and increases of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff within the lower, upper middle and upper quartiles.
Our ethnicity pay data
The difference between Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and white staff average rates of pay

Mean ethnicity pay gap hourly rate of pay

Median ethnicity pay gap hourly rate of pay

Mean ethnicity pay gap bonus pay

Median ethnicity pay gap bonus pay
Rate of pay | 2023 Mean (average) | 2023 Median (middle) |
---|---|---|
Hourly rate of pay for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff | £22.35 | £21.25 |
Hourly rate of pay for white staff | £24.18 | £21.90 |
We recognise differences in pay connected to ethnicity. Although the gap remains in favour of white staff, the pay gap for mean and median rates of pay has reduced each year since we started reporting in 2020. We are reviewing our pay and reward practices, including our honorarium policy to ensure consistency and eradicate inequality.
To support staff from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds to pursue leadership roles, we provide the Advance Higher Education Diversifying Leadership programme. The programme explores themes of power, influence and cultural identity and is designed to encourage staff who are interested in moving to a leadership role.
The proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic and white staff paid a bonus
Ethnicity | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic | 64.2% | 66.2% | 51.30% | 53.88% |
White | 81.5% | 81.3% | 68.50% | 70.73% |
Bonus payments were made to a total of 2,642 staff. Bonus payments are linked to service and in some cases performance. This means new staff must be employed for a qualifying period before becoming eligible.
The proportion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff receiving a bonus decreased by 2% (from 66.2% in 2022). While the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff increased from 21.7% in 2022 to 23% in 2023 the Christmas bonus payment scheme is not open to the newest members of staff. Staff must have been in post for the period 1 October 2021 to 31 July 2022.
Documents
- Download the gender pay report 2019 (PDF - 0.63 Mb)
- Download the gender pay report 2018 (PDF - 0.34 Mb)
The report has been approved by the Chief Executive Group and the Board of Governors.
Pay gap reporting is different to reporting equal pay. The former calculates rates of pay and bonus within staff quartiles, whereas the latter analyses the equality of pay in relation to the same or similar work.
We are required to publish our pay gap results in accordance with the Equality Act, 2010. To correctly capture all relevant pay we have published our 2023 pay gap reports based on pay snapshot date for 31 March 2022. We examined the pay of 3,166 of our staff.