Gender pay gap reports

Since publishing our gender pay gap last year, our median gender pay gap has stayed constant at 7.6%.

The mean gender pay gap has decreased by almost 3% and reflects an overall increase in the number of females on our staff across all levels of the organisation. What is particularly encouraging is representation across the top three quartiles is growing and we have seen a 1% increase in females in the highest paid roles in the organisation.

As explained in the previous report, we have been working to address the gender balance in the Museum, particularly at the leadership level, and are pleased that the data reflects these efforts.

The gender pay gap explained

The gender pay gap shows the differences between average pay between men and women. It is not the same as equal pay. At the Natural History Museum, we pay men and women the same rate for doing the same job. We have a new clear grading system which applies across the whole Museum. 

Reporting our gender pay gap

The below information is based on data from our latest pay gap report in April 2024.

Pay difference

The mean pay difference in hourly pay between male and female employees is 10.9% (down from 13.3% in 2023)

The median pay difference in hourly pay between male and female employees is 7.6% (the same as 2023) 

Percentage of staff

We examined the percentage of male and female staff and split the data by hourly rates in four equal groups, or quartiles. Quartile 1 shows the lowest hourly rates and quartile 4 shows the highest.

Quartile 1 breakdown:

66.8% Female

33.2% Male

Quartile 2 breakdown:

64.2% Female

35.8% Male

Quartile 3 breakdown:

65.1% Female

34.9% Male

Quartile 4 breakdown:

48% Female

52% Male

The gender split across the whole Museum is 61% female, 39% male.

We are pleased to see our mean gender pay gap reducing, and we are committed to addressing the gender imbalance in the most senior level in the Museum. The most recent appointments to our Executive Board have all been female.

We are proud to be an employer that is committed to hybrid working, maintaining the flexibility of working from home for our staff post- pandemic and feel that this has made a positive contribution to an overall increase of females in the workforce.  

Taking action to reduce our gender pay gap

Our 2024-2027 Diversity and Inclusion Workforce Action Plan focuses on all aspects of diversity including gender. This plan has six key objectives which includes a focus on pathways to employment, broadening the diversity of our applicants, and enhancing our management and leadership capabilities.  

This work will continue to build on good practice as outlined in our previous reporting including:

• improving our recruitment practices to mitigate bias
• setting internal recruitment targets to try and move people up within the organisation
• training our managers in inclusive leadership
• development of mentoring and talent pool programmes
• policy reviews  

As we move forward we will continue with these all these programmes as well as introduce new initiatives to support women in the workplace. For example this year we are developing specific guidance for carers (knowing that women play a disproportionate role as carers) and we are focusing on building a greater understanding of the impact of women’s health issues in the workplace.