Advance HE publishes data based on the HESA staff returns for the 2022-23 academic year. “For institutions, the data helps them to benchmark the effectiveness of their initiatives to address inequalities and support all their staff to thrive.”
The 2024 staff equality statistical report published on 14 November 2024, covers UK higher education (HE) staff data for the academic year 2022-23.
This report presents a snapshot of a variety of sociodemographic characteristics of the HE workforce for the academic year 2022-23, also accounting for intersectional considerations. The main aim of this report is to highlight opportunities and challenges regarding the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for staff in UK HE.
Following three years of fluctuation, the number of staff employed in UK HE has reached similar levels to those reported in 2018-19, the last year for which HESA data returns for professional and support staff were mandatory for providers across the UK.
Around four out of 10 academic staff were on teaching and research contracts (42.9%), while one in 10 academics were professors (12.4%), the majority of whom worked in SET (science, engineering and technology) subject areas (61.3%); though a larger proportion of academics that held senior management positions were from non-SET subjects (69.1%).
Key findings:
- Age: Across the UK, the majority of staff employed by providers are between the ages of 31 and 55 (64.9% of the total in 2022/23) with professional and support staff continuing to have a younger age profile than academic staff.
There has been a year-on-year increase in the proportion of academics up to 30 years old employed on teaching-only contracts within the last five years: from 63.0% in 2018-19 to 68.6% in 2022-23 for academics aged 25 and under; and from 33.7% in 2018-19 to 42.7% in 2022-23 for academics aged 26-30).
- Disability: The numbers of staff disclosing as disabled remains on an upward trajectory: from 3.2% of the total staff population in 2010-11 to 7.2% in 2022-23.
The report authors, Amanda Aldercotte and Peny Sotiropoulou, highlight, “It is likely that this trend reflects both a genuine increase in the representation of staff disclosing an impairment or disability as well as a number of other factors, including reduced stigmatisation of disabilities, improved confidence to disclose, and increased awareness of different types of impairments.” They add, “Nonetheless, there are many reasons why staff may not report an impairment or disability and it is likely that the prevalence reported here is an undercount, which should be taken into consideration when developing support services for disabled staff.”
- Ethnicity: The number of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff has nearly tripled within the last 20 years (increasing from 24,045 in 2003-04 to 76,095 in 2022-23) and their overall representation has risen from 8.6% of the total staff population in 2003-04 to 19.1% in 2022-23.
However, the report shows that, among both UK and non-UK academic staff, a greater proportion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff are on fixed-term contracts (29.0% and 46.6%, respectively) than White staff (23.3% and 31.7%, respectively):
and notable differences in the proportions of professors among the UK Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, with just 3.8% of UK Black academics being professors:
Our reports also show that although ethnic representation among professors is increasing across the years, this varies widely across the different minority ethnic groups, with Black professors still being those most underrepresented. This is true when looking at representation across both UK and non-UK professors.
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Sex: Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of female academic staff in the UK. The proportion of female staff is now at its highest level for overall academic staff (48.6%), professorial roles (30.8%) and academic senior managers (39.2%).
The population growth of female academics (an increase of 40.8 per cent), female professors (an increase of 93.8 per cent) and female academic senior managers (an increase of 37.8 per cent) within the last decade (from 2012-13 to 2022-23) makes this positive trend even clearer. The authors note that, “The gradual increments year-on-year between 2012-13 and 2022-23 reflects the efforts that the sector is making to improve gender equality. However, it is clear that there is still work to do, particularly when it comes to ensuring equal opportunities – across all contract types and employment conditions – and addressing pay disparities.”
Commenting on this year’s report, David Bass, Advance HE Director of EDI, said “The value of this report is that it can help all of us in the sector to see the shifts in trends over time, particularly where the data reveal or reinforce the need for positive action to address inequalities so that there is the opportunity for all talent to flourish in UK HE regardless of their age, ethnicity, sex, or disability. For institutions, the data helps them to benchmark the effectiveness of their initiatives to address inequalities and support all their staff to thrive.
“From Advance HE’s perspective, we are committed to ensuring that our support for EDI in HE remains innovative and responsive to sector challenges. We are working with colleagues in Advance HE member institutions around the world in developing and testing a holistic approach to EDI. We believe this framework will help deliver sustainable, efficient and impactful EDI practice to help HE providers better understand and address priority inequalities in their own institutional context.”
This report marks the 17th year of the Advance HE’s equality in UK HE publications.
You can read the full report and access all infographics here.
This article has been kindly repurposed from Advance HE and you can read the original here.