Sex - Staff Monitoring Report 2024/25

Sex 2024/25

Females continue to make up the majority of the university’s workforce, at 63.1% - significantly higher than the HESA Sector benchmark of 55%.​

Female staff are particularly highly represented in Professional and Support roles (67.4%), compared to Academic roles (59.7%) – and as with age, Academic staff are the furthest from the HESA Benchmark.​

Senior female representation continues to increase, with females making up over half (53.9%) of the senior level population for the last 2 years – with more even representation in Professional services and Academic roles (55.4% and 52.7%) than in the total population. ​

Senior Academic female representation has increased over the last 5 years, reducing the gap between senior and non-senior representation.​

​Proportion of the population by Sex vs HESA

The OU has a higher proportion of female staff compared to the HESA benchmark.

HESA Sector data taken from 2026 report on 2024/25 statistics​

Proportion of the population by Sex - 5 year trend

The proportion of female staff remained stable at around 63% (and male at 37%).

Sex by Employee Group and Subgroup​

Although females make up 63% all university staff, representation is not evenly distributed between employee groups and role types.​

Female staff are particularly highly represented in Professional and Support roles (67.4%), compared to Academic roles (59.7%), with the exception of Regional Academic Staff (73% female). ​

As with age and ethnicity, Academic Staff are the furthest from HESA benchmark of 49% at nearly 60%.​

% Female by employee group vs HESA

The OU has a higher proportion of female Academic Staff and Professional and Support Staff compared to the HESA benchmark.

HESA Sector data taken from 2026 report on 2024/25 statistics​

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Employee Subgroup by Sex

Women represent the majority in all staff subgroups.

Sex - representation at senior level​

Senior female representation has exceeded the 45% target for the last 5 years, and continues to increase, with females making up over half (53.9%) of the senior level population for the last 2 years.​

Although Senior female representation remains higher in SS grades (55.4% vs 52.7% in PB grades), our sustained 5-year overall increase is driven by PB grades – increasing by over a third from 39.3% to 52.7%, narrowing the gap from 59.7% total female Academic representation. SS grades now have a wider gap at 52.7% senior %female against 67.4% total female PSS representation.​

Representation of females at senior level by grade group

Female staff represent more than half of senior level staff.

Representation of females at senior level 5yr trend vs 2026 target

Representation exceeded the 45% target in every year and has shown a generally upward trend over the period.

Representation of females at senior level 5yr trend vs 2026 target

Female representation in SS grades remained above the target throughout the period, while representation in PB grades increased over time, exceeding the target from 22/23 onwards.

Sex - Recruitment​

6 out of every 10 applications are from female candidates, which then grows throughout the recruitment pipeline, to almost 7 of every 10 successful applicants.​

Male representation starts low at just 38.2% of applicants, reducing by around 5 percentage points at shortlisting and a further 5 percentage points at offer stage – with fewer than 1 in 3 candidates being appointed.​

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