King's College London

Gender paygaps are an enduring problem in the UK and beyond. Using King’s College London as an initial case study, this project intends to develop a methodology to measure institutional gender pay gaps in a way that directly supports ways of addressing them.

The project intends to combine econometric analysis of panel data with qualitative interviews. The econometric modelling will explain how gender pay gaps are shaped by roles, productivity, promotions and seniority, thereby identifying `unexplained’ gaps, while the qualitative component will yield insights into these unexplained gaps by examining why and how pay negotiations and promotion applications (and their outcomes) vary by gender.

The research will be coupled with strategic recommendations for institutional policies around pay, promotion and retention, so as to develop concrete 3- to 5-year plans to shrink pay gaps that are guided by empirical modelling.

Want to participate?

Would you be willing to be interviewed as part of this project on your experiences of negotiating for your own pay, or as a manager negotiating with or on behalf of new recruits?

We are looking to interview line managers, and lecturers or professors recruited (or promoted) to the post in the past 5 years. If you're interested, please drop us a line at kcl-paygaps-study@kcl.ac.uk.

The purpose of the project is to develop and test a new mixed-methods methodology to measure institutional gender pay gaps in a way that directly supports ways of addressing them. This methodology includes a review of existing policies and procedures, econometric analysis of fully anonymised and GDPR compliant panel data, and qualitative interviews with academic staff, line managers and HR staff at King’s. Our qualitative component will examine unexplained pay gaps by exploring why and how pay negotiations and promotion applications (and their outcomes) vary by gender.

Before you decide whether you want to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what your participation will involve. Interviews will take around 20-30 minutes in person or online; all participation will remain confidential; and no one interviewed will be identifiable in any outputs.

Please see the project information sheet (PDF) for full details of what this will entail.