Download the 2025 report as a PDF file
The ÐßÐßÊÓƵ is world-renowned life sciences institute studying the fundamental biology of human development, health and ageing. The Institute holds charitable status and is committed to promoting and developing a culture of equity, diversity, inclusivity and mutual respect that supports our ambitions and attracts highly motivated and talented people from around the world. The vision for our research culture is to sustain an inclusive community, in a positive environment that values dignity, inclusion, openness and integrity, for everyone to thrive and take pride in their contribution to the delivery of world-class bioscience research that benefits society.
The Institute continues to work to support equity, diversity and inclusivity (EDI) at the Institute and also as part of the Babraham Research Campus. Our work across EDI is coordinated by our equity4success (e4s) initiative which unites all aspects of EDI at the Institute, including implementation of our Athena Swan action plan and reporting on our progress in areas covered by the remit of the Athena Swan charter.
In 2024 the Institute was successful in securing a renewal of our Silver Athena Swan award, which has been retained since 2014 (access the application and action plan here). Objectives defined within this action plan reflect the Institute’s commitment to working towards reducing the gender pay gap by regular analysis of pay and promotion rates, and benchmarking.
In developing an impactful plan for sustained progress, the Institute scrutinises data on people and processes to inform our priority areas for action. We are pleased to see coalescence of our EDI work with several of the Institute’s strategic initiatives: Wellbeing, the Technician Commitment and Research Integrity as part of a project delivered in 2024 to assess the Institute’s research culture, followed by a roadmap to implement change. The Institute continues to explore new ways to embed EDI into all areas of the scientific ecosystem, including working with internal and external partners, to make faster, more effective progress.
Reporting our gender pay gap annually in line with current UK legislation allows us to track our progress in building a fair and diverse community that recognises and respects everyone.
Table 1 shows the ÐßÐßÊÓƵ’s overall mean and median gender pay gap (based on hourly rates of pay for all employees) at the snapshot date (5th April 2025) and additional 2024, 2023 and 2022 data for comparison of previous figures. Archived reports are available for previous years dating back to 2017.
The latest pay analysis shows that the Institute’s gender pay gap has narrowed, with the median difference reducing from 12.14% to 9.73%. While this is positive, as a small organisation our figures remain sensitive to relatively minor changes in headcount and gender split. Eligible employee numbers have reduced from 255 in 2023 to 244 in both 2024 and 2025. Within this stable overall number, however, the gender balance has changed. The number of eligible female employees has increased for a second consecutive year (from 136 in 2024 to 143 in 2025), while the number of eligible male employees has decreased (from 108 to 101). Compared with 2023, when the Institute had 134 eligible females and 121 males, the proportion of women in the eligible population has risen from 52.5% to 58.6% over two years. The narrowing of the pay gap in 2025 is likely influenced by the increased representation of women across all four pay quartiles. The most notable shift is in the upper middle quartile, which is now 59% female compared with 54.1% in 2024. Female representation in the upper quartile has also risen, from 44.3% to 47.5%. While these increases are encouraging, the overall rise in the number of eligible female employees, combined with the reduction in male employees, has also resulted in higher proportions of women in the lower two quartiles. The requirement set by the UK government for organisations to report their Gender Pay Gap is 250 employees in recognition of the impact of small staff changes on the Gender Pay Gap outcome. Our 2024 and 2025 figures are illustrative of this impact.
Table 1 also shows the mean and median difference in bonuses paid to men and women in the year ending 5th April 2025. The bonus pay calculation represents the gender gap in performance related pay beyond standard pay increases plus bonuses paid to executive level employees. The gender pay gap for bonus payments decreased on the mean measure but increased on the median measure between the 2024 and 2025 reporting periods. This shift can be explained by the higher proportion of employees receiving a bonus in 2025: 27% of females and 26% of males, compared with 17% and 18% respectively in 2024. Although more women than men received a bonus in 2025, a greater share of female bonuses were at the lower end of the range. We recognise that the bonus gap is likely to remain significant while the largest bonus awards continue to be concentrated in the top two pay bands, which are currently occupied exclusively by male employees.
As illustrated by the charts in figure 1, a similar proportion of female and male employees received a bonus.
The data in figure 2 identifies the ÐßÐßÊÓƵ’s gender distribution across the four equal quartiles (with each quartile containing 61 employees). At the snapshot date of 5th April 2025, the gender split across ÐßÐßÊÓƵ staff was 58.6% females compared to 41.4% males.
Due to the increase in the proportion of female to male employees, females continue to be in the majority across the first three quartiles. We have seen an increase in the number of female employees compared to males across all four quartiles with the largest increase in the two upper quartiles, which demonstrates a positive step towards closing the gender pay gap. We remain positive about seeing progression of women from the third to the fourth quartile through role development which will help to improve the gender balance at higher executive levels.
In terms of the number of posts represented in the upper fourth quartile, the gender split is 29 female-held positions and 32 male-held positions. A shift from 27 and 34 respectively in 2024.
Data on promotions and additional role-related pay In the year preceding the snapshot date a total of 28 employees were promoted: 19 females and 9 males. To split the promotion awards by the two upper and lower quartiles, promotions affecting roles in the top two quartiles were awarded to 11 females and 2 males, and in the lower two quartiles were awarded to 8 females and 7 males.
In terms of additional role-related pay, the Institute pays an additional amount in recognition of key citizenship contributions where these roles carry significant responsibility and involvement. These are:
We remain committed to long-term change, equitable practices and sustained effort to address gender imbalance at the higher levels of the Institute. Our 2025 gender pay gap shows the strong influence of small shifts in our demographics across all four quartiles. The largest degree of change is shown in the upper two quartiles which is reflected in the narrowing of the pay gap. However, the upper quartile remains the only quartile where fewer women hold roles at this level than men. Across the organisation we remain confident that men and women are paid equally for equivalent level roles and that we are recognising and rewarding staff through bonuses without gender bias.
The Board of Trustees and Institute senior leadership remain committed to making progress and responding to our gender pay gap analysis and wider data. Our work in this area includes regularly monitoring gender pay and equal pay, minimising gender-biased actions in recruitment practices, assessing gender differences in the uptake of professional training and development opportunities, increasing transparency about our promotion processes, and identifying and addressing biases in how promotions are awarded.
To illustrate the actions we are taking to support career progression, the Institute’s Roving Researcher role continues to provide vital cover for research and technical teams during periods of long term leave, and we are proud that this initiative is now being adopted by other UK and European organisations. Through our equity4success programme, focus groups with female early career researchers explored gendered patterns in leaving academia; their insights have shaped the data we now collect for monitoring and have informed several actions within our Athena Swan Action Plan for 2024–2029. The action plan also includes measures to create a more supportive environment for parents and carers—such as establishing a Parent and Carer Network—and introduces part time tenure track group leader roles and targeted career development initiatives to strengthen women’s representation at senior research levels. More broadly, the Institute will continue to prioritise career development and progression for all employees through our Strategic Talent Management Plan, reinforcing a culture of support and building clear progression pathways across research, technical, and science support roles. Eradicating the gender pay gap is part of the Institute’s wider commitment to support all employees to achieve their maximum potential, and to remove any barriers to this where possible.
As part of our 2023 quinquennial funding review by UKRI BBSRC, the Institute developed a Research Culture Statement that sits at the heart of our vision to ensure equitable opportunities for everyone working across science and science operations. Our objectives for 2024–2028 outline plans to review and enhance our HR People Strategy, including approaches to recruitment, learning and development, and reward. As part of this work, we have introduced a behavioural competency framework and are developing career development frameworks, building on progress to date and ensuring that we offer clearly defined, fair, and supportive career pathways that enable staff to grow and succeed at all levels.