The gender pay gap shows the difference in representation of men and women employees throughout the pay range of an organisation. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) monitors and publishes its gender pay gap on an annual basis.
This is a snapshot of RCP employee data on 5 April 2021. At this point the RCP employed 385 staff, with 272 (70%) women and 113 (30%) men.
The median gender pay gap for the RCP on this snapshot date was 18.2%, an increase of 1.5% from 2020. The mean gender pay gap for the RCP on this snapshot date was 14.5%, an increase of 2.7%.
Changes in the RCP gender pay gap since 2017 are shown below.
These increases contrast with the falls reported across both mean and median between 2019 and 2020.
This trend is mirrored across the UK: the median gender pay pap for all UK employees (full-time and part-time) increased to 15.4% in 2021 from 14.9% in 2020, despite falling between 2019 and 2020. Our median gender pay gap is now higher than the national average and we are deeply disappointed to see this. A possible explanation for this is that when men in the lower pay quartiles have left the RCP in the last 3 years, they have been replaced with women, effectively bringing down the median value and creating a larger gap.
Ian Bullock, chief executive officer of the RCP, said:
‘I am disappointed to see the RCP gender pay gap increase in 2021 after making progress in reducing the gap in the previous year. In navigating the pandemic, we experienced a number of challenges in 2020–21 including higher paid and valued female colleagues leaving employment with the RCP, which has contributed to this position. I remain committed to leading our efforts to get under the skin of this issue, and to ensure we see the gap reduce in 2021–22, ensuring we have fair pay across our organisation.’
Analysing the data by pay quartiles shows that over half of employees in our upper pay quartile are women (59%), and women make up 70% of our upper-middle pay quartile (up by 2% from 2020). In the lower-middle quartile 76% are women, while the figure for women in the lower pay quartile has remained unchanged from 2020 at 77%.
As a result of our analysis we understand the major contributors to the gender pay gap increase. More women high earners left the RCP between 2020 and 2021, compared with men.
Our action plan
Our commitment to addressing the gender pay gap is set out in the following action plan:
- Undertake a closer analysis of the areas of the business where the gender pay gap is highest. We need to better understand why the position varies significantly across the organisation, with some areas and grades showing a gap in favour of women.
- Review recruitment, reward and recognition processes to ensure there is fairness and guidance to help managers become aware of the gender pay gap when recruiting to new roles.
- Put in place targeted and coordinated support for women at key life milestones which could potentially affect career progression.
- Develop training programmes available to all women employees that aim to empower and assist with career development, for example #IamRemarkable workshops.
- Address unconscious bias across the organisation with the implementation of mandatory training.
- Continue to offer a competitive employee benefits package – reviewed and expanded on a regular basis – to attract and retain women employees.
- Publish an annual progress report in autumn 2022 in response to Ben Summerskill’s independent review into diversity and inclusion.
- Pilot a goal-driven staff network group for some cohorts of staff tasked with supporting the RCP objective of closing the gender pay gap.
Previous RCP gender pay gap summaries: