Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) has undertaken a new analysis of the latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) gender pay gap data for the university and research sectors.
SAGE delivers the internationally recognised Athena Swan program, supporting universities, medical research institutes and public sector science research agencies to identify and address the systemic barriers driving gender inequality and the gender pay gap. The 38 organisations participating in the program are known as SAGE members.
An organisation’s gender pay gap is a key indicator of how well it is tackling the structural and cultural barriers that drive gender inequality and how much progress it has yet to make.
Key Findings
6.5% avg. median total remuneration gender pay gap for SAGE members
10.3% avg. median total remuneration gender pay gap for non-members
3.8 pp member advantage (percentage points)
It is a tale of opposing outcomes: those taking action are reducing their gender pay gap. Those that aren’t are seeing their gender pay gap widen.
Organisations taking active steps to address the gender pay gap through SAGE’s Athena Swan program (members) have a median total remuneration gender pay gap that is 37% lower than their sector peers (3.8 percentage points).
The gap between universities in the SAGE program and those outside it has tripled over three years, as the gender pay gap has continued to grow for those not taking action.
Of the 13 universities with a gender pay gap in the target range (+/-5%), nine are SAGE members.
Almost 9 in 10 SAGE members have taken tangible action to address their gender pay gap. The data is unambiguous: the further along the SAGE Athena Swan program an organisation is, the lower its gender pay gap.
At SAGE member universities, women now make up more than half of all governing body members, an 11.8 percentage point advantage over non-member universities.
This demonstrates that SAGE members are driving gender equity improvements across every level of their institutions, not just in pay.
