Transparency data

IPO gender pay gap 2021

Published 27 January 2022

This transparency data was withdrawn on 9 February 2024

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1. Intellectual Property Office (IPO) - Gender pay gap

The IPO’s pay approach supports the fair treatment and reward of all staff irrespective of gender. This report gives the IPO’s gender pay gap data, using a methodology fully aligned to the statutory reporting requirements, on the snapshot date of 31 March 2021. For bonuses, the period of 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 was used, which was the 12 months preceding the snapshot date.

The gender pay gap shows the difference in the average pay between all men and women in a workforce. If a workforce has a particularly high gender pay gap, this can indicate there may be a number of issues to deal with, and the individual calculations may help to identify what those issues are.

The gender pay gap is different to equal pay. Equal pay deals with the pay differences between men and women who carry out the same jobs, similar jobs or work of equal value. It is unlawful to pay people unequally because they are a man or a woman.

2. Gender make-up of the IPO

• 47% of the IPO’s workforce are women

• 21% of the IPO’s Senior Civil Service are women

3. IPO’s gender pay gap

• mean pay gap: 18% in favour of men

• median pay gap 30% in favour of men

The IPO pay system covers Civil Service grades ranging from administrative assistant to Senior Civil Servant (SCS). The grades vary according to the level of responsibility that staff have. Each grade has a set pay range with pay gaps in between grades. Staff are expected to move through the pay range for their grade. The longer period of time that someone has been in a grade, and the more developed their skillset and competence, the more we would expect them to earn irrespective of their gender.

The single biggest factor for the pay imbalance seen in the IPO, is the under-representation of women in specialist STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) roles and this is a national issue.

In fact, whilst the comparison of mean and median pay in the IPO shows a gap in favour of men which is higher than the national pay gap which is 15.4% (median), it is not dissimilar to the gender gap in the field of STEM where women are consistently under-represented. According to estimates based on The Office of National Statistic Labour Force Survey and compiled by the WISE Campaign (2019), women make up only 24% of the UK core-STEM workforce and updated statistics by the WISE Campaign (2020) show that these figures have remained consistent with the previous year.

Given our workforce profile, and the industry from which we recruit, a gender gap of some sorts is not unexpected. Compared to other institutions of a similar size and makeup where there is a strong focus on STEM subjects, our pay gaps are comparable.

These roles, which attract higher pay due their specialism, make up 33% of our total workforce and only 23% of these posts are held by women. If the specialist STEM roles were removed from the IPO’s analysis the pay gap would be 9% (mean) and 2% (median). The mean and median gap has been calculated using just annual base pay as at 31 March 2021.

In addition to this, a significant proportion of men are employed at higher grading levels whilst a high proportion of women are part-time and employed at lower grading levels in support roles (corporate and operational) which also skews the average. 69% of our part-time workers are women.

Whilst the overall mean and median gender pay is still significant at 18% and 30%, we are pleased to report a reduction in the mean gender pay gap over the last four years:

	Mean Hourly Rate	Median Hourly Rate
IPO 2017/18	22%	30%
IPO 2018/19	20%	33%
IPO 2019/20	19%	27%
IPO 2020/21	18%	30%

We are pleased to note this year that the mean gap has reduced. The increase in median figure can be attributed to the large intake of females within the administrative roles to deal with the demands of Brexit.

Whilst the overall mean and median gender pay is still not satisfactory, the breakdown for each grading level shows a more positive story with a far less pronounced gap across specific peer groups:

Mean gender pay gap by grade (excluding market driven pay enhancements for specialists)

Mean gender pay gap (hourly rate)	A1	A2	A3	B1	B2	B2 Exr	B3	C1	C1 Exr	C2	C2 Exr	D1	SCS
Male	£9.63	£10.08	£11.16	£12.31	£14.52	£14.27	£16.30	£21.10	£21.02	£29.87	£30.54	£34.44	£39.59
Female	£9.63	£10.08	£11.16	£12.31	£14.49	£14.30	£16.22	£20.93	£21.05	£29.71	£30.45	£34.27	£38.08
Mean gap	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.21%	-0.21%	0.49%	0.81%	-0.14%	0.54%	0.29%	0.49%	3.81%

Median gender pay gap by grade (excluding market driven pay enhancements for specialists)

Median gender pay gap (hourly rate)	A1	A2	A3	B1	B2	B2 Exr	B3	C1	C1 Exr	C2	C2 Exr	D1	SCS
Male	£9.63	£10.08	£11.16	£12.31	£14.49	£14.23	£16.34	£21.00	£20.90	£29.58	£30.68	£34.49	£38.18
Female	£9.63	£10.08	£11.16	£12.31	£14.40	£14.29	£16.17	£20.80	£20.90	£29.50	£30.68	£34.17	£38.42
Median gap	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.62%	-0.42%	1.04%	0.95%	0.00%	0.27%	0.00%	0.93%	-0.63%

Unsurprisingly, the biggest differentials can be seen in the B and C spans, which are dominated by our technical experts in STEM and are primarily male. And similarly, in our SCS cohort where, once again, women are under-represented.

4. Pay by quartiles

Quartile	Female	Male
First (lower) Quartile	61%	39%
Second Quartile	57%	43%
Third Quartile	36%	64%
Fourth (upper) Quartile	32%	68%

5. Bonus pay

82% of females and 85% of males were paid a bonus in the 12 months ending 31 March 2021.

• mean bonus gap: 12.6%
• median bonus gap: 8%

The IPO operates a reward and recognition scheme that is based on performance and is irrespective of gender.

6. Work on eradicating the gender pay gap

Whilst we are pleased to report a reduction in the gender pay gap over the past three years as a result of the initiatives we have already put in place, we are fully committed to fair pay irrespective of gender and recognise that there is still a lot of work to be done. Reducing the gap is complex and therefore needs consistent and proactive action. It is something that we, as an organisation, take very seriously and reducing our pay gap will remain an IPO priority until it has been brought to a satisfactory level which we know will take a number of years. To make an impact on the gap, we have sponsored a taskforce to challenge and embed further changes in the organisation. Our action plan has seen us focus on three key areas for this year:

6.1: Awareness and candidate experience

Ensuring we advertise the IPO as an inclusive brand, introducing new ways of recruiting that focus on skill, targeting and evaluating the effectiveness of our job advertisements in attracting diverse talent.

6.2: Review internal processes and procedures

Ensuring we remove any unintended bias from our processes, investing in more effective mentoring relationships, promoting opportunities for more flexible working and driving an increase in take up of Shared Parental Leave.

6.3: STEM impact programme

A focus on outreach to increase the number of girls accessing STEM opportunities at primary and secondary age. We will also look to support Women later in their careers through Returner and Career Switcher programmes. We will find ways to maximise our existing talent by finding pathways in to STEM for people without a STEM background, as well as raising awareness in Universities of STEM careers in the Civil Service.