Oxford University criticised for gender gap among top earners

Oxford University has been criticised after it emerged that only 8% of its top-paid staff are women.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed there are just 13 women paid more than £140,000 a year, compared with 145 men.

The general secretary of the Association of Lecturers and Teachers said the figure was "very worrying".

A university spokesman said it recognised the need "to improve gender balance and to address the pay gap".

He added that 21% of its professors are female, compared to the UK average of 22%, and the organisation is aiming to achieve 30% representation by 2020.

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said: "It's extremely worrying to see that women are still so under-represented in high-earning roles in academia.

"Young people need to see a diverse range of role models to inspire them in their studies and life. What message does this give to young women aspiring to be academics?

"We need to ask why Oxford has so few high-earning females, so few women in leadership and what the barriers are?"

Earlier this year Oxford was ranked the second-best university in the world in the Times Higher Education league table.

Stephanie Kelley, women's campaign officer for Oxford University Students' Union, said more needed to be done to address the gender imbalance.

She said: "Oxford needs to take measures to remedy the situation and ensure that women have equal representation to men."

From 2012 to 2014 the average yearly proportion of undergraduates accepted to Oxford was 53% male, compared to 47% female.

An Oxford university spokesman said: "The university has recently revised its processes for the appointment of professors to include more active searches for suitable female candidates."

The Freedom of Information request was submitted by Luke Barratt, a student journalist on the Oxford newspaper Cherwell.