The UK education sector has begun to publish its gender pay gap, revealing the gulf between educational attainment and pay in academy schools.

Despite the fact that education is a profession that is dominated by women, academy schools in the UK are reporting some of the worst gender pay gaps.

This is due to the fact that in these academy schools the majority of senior positions are held by males, an issue in itself that needs addressing.

However, this result is in no way unusual, with the majority of companies in the UK reporting pay gaps in favour of men in the government’s national survey of gender and pay.

Government-backed academy schools have displayed some of the biggest gender pay gaps in the country.

For example, Lunesdale Learning Trust in Cumbria reported a mean hourly pay gap of 60.6% in favour of males, while for Berlesduna Academy Trust in Basildon this figure stood at 41.9%.

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However, this is not a case of unequal pay. It’s because men within these organisations hold more senior positions, which attract higher salaries.

Dominance of females in education sector not reflected in pay

Given that education is a female dominated sector, these results are surprising.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that on average in 2017, 72% of job roles in the education sector were filled by women.

However, this is unreflective of the pay received by males and females at academy schools. In these schools men are dominating the senior roles, a situation that is reflected across the UK labor market.

Males hold majority of senior roles

Not only do males dominate the senior roles in the UK, but females are overwhelmingly in the minority on management boards and in some companies’ non-existent.

There exists an unequal balance within our society with regards to the job roles and salaries of males and females.

Pay gap unreflective of educational attainment

Looking at the exam results of males and females from primary school age right up to university level; females consistently outperform males.

Data from 2017 shows that women are a third more likely to go to university than men, with 30,000 more females being offered university places.

What’s more, of the 2.5 million degrees awarded in the UK in 2016, 58% were awarded to females and 42% to males.

Looking at the pay gap that exists between the two genders, this is highly unreflective of educational attainment. More needs to be done to address this.