I think we will begin to do something about making women full professors,” he says.
Medical schools, and universities with their own medical schools, also have bigger differentials between men’s and women’s pay than other institutions. That is because medical schools have historically been bastions of male privilege. That’s because it’s competing for a few gurus, such as Gary Hamel, the fast-talking American who jets in from California every few weeks to spread his gospel about “core competences”.
Some subjects at the LBS contain almost no women academics. Today, women are in the majority among new entrants to medicine, but their presence has not yet percolated through to the top academic jobs.
Leicester University says that its large differential between men and women (£7,306) is not surprising, given the male-dominated medical profession.

For example, accounting and finance has only one woman, says the faculty dean, Professor Saul Estrin. That reflects the small number of women studying these subjects, he says but goes on to admit that more could be done to promote women There are no women professors at the LBS “The LBS is very concerned about this. Not only does it have the biggest pay differential, it pays much heftier salaries than elsewhere. The new university with the greatest differential is London Guildhall (£5,032) followed by Coventry University (£4,949).
A large part of the difference between old and new universities is explained by the lower proportion of staff who are promoted within the new universities, and therefore, the reduced opportunity for discrimination in promotion in those institutions, according to Mr Wilson.
The London Business School (LBS) is in a league of its own. The guidelines recommend that there be at least one woman on an appointments panel, that panel members be trained in recruitment, and that the numbers applying and being appointed to jobs be monitored.
The table shows that the widest gap between men and women’s pay is found in old universities, particularly those that teach male-dominated subjects such as medicine, science and technology. The narrowest gap is found in new universities and colleges of higher education that concentrate on the humanities and teacher-training But there is quite a mix in between. Despite the fact that Cuco was set up by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, most universities are unaware of its guidelines, says Mr Wilson.

Such targets should be monitored, so it can be seen that progress is being made.
Second, universities should implement guidelines drawn up by the Commission on University Career Opportunity (Cuco), says the lecturers’ union. “We, along with the other higher education unions, will be pressing the employers strongly for urgent action,” says Mr Wilson.
There are a number of things university vice-chancellors can do immediately, according to Natfhe. First, they can set targets for improving women’s pay, broken down for professors, senior and principal lecturers and for those entering academe. “It’s got many causes – subject mix, the presence of a medical school, differences in promotion rates.

But, whatever the reasons, none of them is justified.”
Publication of the figures comes at a key moment. Higher education employers have agreed to set up a working party to look at equal opportunities, after the Bett report; it meets for the first time later this month. On average, male academics in the United Kingdom are paid £4,307 a year more than their female counterparts.
“There’s a massive problem of sex discrimination, from the top to the bottom of the entire system,” says Tom Wilson, head of the universities department at the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (Natfhe) which put the table together from figures supplied by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Male academics at almost every university and college in the United Kingdom are paid more than women, according to the first league table of its kind, which has been compiled from official figures and is published exclusively in The Independent today. The exceptions are Glasgow College of Art and King Alfred’s College, Winchester, a former teacher-training college named after the king who burnt the cakes, where women are paid more than men.

The gap in pay between men and women dons varies enormously between institutions. It is most pronounced at the London Business School, where men earn an average of almost £20,000 a year more than women, and is least acute at Edge Hill College of Higher Education, in Ormskirk, Lancashire, another former teacher-training college, where the differential is just under £500. Male academics at almost every university and college in the United Kingdom are paid more than women, according to the first league table of its kind, which has been compiled from official figures and is published exclusively in The Independent today.