Sex - Staff Monitoring Report 2022/23

Sex 2022/23

Proportion of women and men in 2022/23

Pie chart showing the proportion of staff by sex. Details in the data table available after this graphic.
Proportion of women and men (as at 31st July 2023)
Sex%
Woman63.0%
Man37.0%

Women make up the majority of the workforce.

Scope: All Staff (please see inclusion/exclusion table) 

Snapshot date: 31st July 2023 (Academic Year 2022/23)

Proportion of women and men over the last five years

Line chart showing the proportion of women and men across five academic years. Details in the data table available after this graphic.
Proportion of the population by Sex
Year% Female% Male
2018/1960.6%39.4%
2019/2061.3%38.7%
2020/2162.1%37.9%
2021/2262.7%37.3%
2022/2363.0%37.0%

The workforce remained predominantly female throughout the period.

Snapshot date(s): 2018/19 to 2022/23 as at 31st July of each year.

Scope: All Staff – Academic Staff (Central, Regional, Researcher & ALs) and Professional & Support Staff – data does not include OU subsidiaries (OUSA, OUW, Mulberry Bear) or agency/temp workers.

Sex by Employee Group

Stacked bar chart comparing the sex composition of Academic Staff and Professional & Support Staff. Details in the data table available after this graphic.
Proportion of men and women by Employee group
Employee Group% Woman% Man
Academic Staff59.0%41.0%
Professional & Support Staff68.1%31.9%

Both employee groups are predominantly female.

Snapshot date(s): 2022/23 (as at 31st July 2023)

Scope: All Staff – Academic Staff (Central, Regional, Researcher & ALs) and Professional & Support Staff – data does not include OU subsidiaries (OUSA, OUW, Mulberry Bear) or agency/temp workers.

Sex by Employee Subgroup

Stacked bar chart showing the sex composition of six employee subgroups, split between Academic Staff and Professional & Support Staff. A dotted outline groups Associate Lecturers, Central Academic Staff, Regional Academic Staff and Research Staff together as Academic Staff, while Academic Related Staff and Support Staff are shown separately as Professional & Support Staff. Details in the data table available after this graphic.
Employee Subgroup by Sex
Employee Subgroup% Woman% Man
Associate Lecturer59.0%41.0%
Central Academic Staff55.5%44.5%
Regional Academic Staff73.4%26.6%
Research Staff 49.3%50.7%
Academic Related Staff66.7%33.3%
Support Staff69.8%30.2%

Women are the majority in most employee subgroups.

Snapshot date(s): 2022/23 (as at 31st July 2023)

Scope: All Staff – Academic Staff (Central, Regional, Researcher & ALs) and Professional & Support Staff – data does not include OU subsidiaries (OUSA, OUW, Mulberry Bear) or agency/temp workers.

Representation of women at senior level

The representation of women at senior level continues to increase, with women now making up almost half (49.4%) of the senior level population. When looking at the split between the two grades that make up the senior level (Professors/PB and Senior Staff/SS), there are more women and men with PB grades compared to SS grades; however, women are better represented in SS grades. Over half of the SS grade population are women (52.2%, 71 out of 136).

Bar chart showing woman representation at senior level across five academic years, with a target marker of 45% shown alongside the most recent year. Details in the data table available after this graphic.
Representation of women at senior level – 5 years
Year% Female
2018/1942.0%
2019/2044.5%
2020/2146.2%
2021/2247.9%
2022/2349.4%

Female representation at senior level increased steadily throughout the period and exceeded the target in the most recent year shown.

Bar chart comparing female representation across the PB1-PB3 and SS0-SS5 senior grade groups. Details in the data table available after this graphic.
Representation of women at senior level by grade group – 2022/23
Year% Female
PB1-PB347.1% (n=81)
SS0-SS552.2% (n=71)

Women are represented in both senior grade groups, with a higher level of representation in the SS0-SS5 grade group than in the PB1-PB3 grade group.

Snapshot date(s): 2018/19 to 2022/23 as at 31st July of each year (above chart) | 2022/23 (as at 31st July 2023; below chart) 

Scope: Staff with ‘SS’ (Senior Staff) grades or ‘PB’ (Professor) grades

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