We have responded to claims in a new UCU Scotland report published today, Tuesday 8 March, on gender pay equality and challenged some of the data used by the report.
A Universities Scotland spokesperson said:
“We have doubts about the reliability of the data in this report. Having checked with some universities the figures seem to have been significantly overstated and are way-off that which universities hold themselves. Pay equality is something that universities take very seriously and the evidence at a national level confirms that good progress has been made towards closing the gap. This is closely monitored through equal pay reviews.
“Universities and unions did some really useful joint work on equal pay last year which included surveys of equal pay auditing and work to understand the factors behind gender pay gaps where they exist. This collaborative approach with the unions, including UCU, continues this year. We’d like to continue a collaborative approach on this issue and so intend to speak with UCU to understand how they have arrived at these data.”