Ethnicity pay gap at RCPsych narrows to 5.81% in 2022

Online news
08 August 2022

We are pleased to announce that the ethnicity pay gap at the College has narrowed – with the median gap being just 5.81%, with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people earning more on average than White people.

The median ethnicity pay gap last reported by the College, at the start of this year, was 6.57%. The average median ethnic pay gap in London, where most of our employees work, was 23.8% in 2019.

Our figures for the ethnicity pay gap are less reliable than those for our gender pay gap, as whereas just four employees (1%) do not define themselves as being male or female, 70 of our employees (19%) do not specify their ethnicity.

Unlike the gender pay gap, reporting on the ethnicity pay gap is voluntary and as a result there is far less data available from other organisations on this issue.

Meanwhile, the mean ethnicity pay gap at the College has increased to 4.47%, with Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people being paid more than White people. When we reported at the start of the year, the mean ethnicity pay gap was 4.12%.

The existence of an ethnicity pay gap at an organisation does not mean that the employer pays people from one ethnicity more for the exact same work than those from another ethnicity – that would be illegal. Instead, the ethnicity pay gap shows what the average Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic person at an organisation is paid, compared to the average White member of staff.

The total number of ‘in-scope’ substantive employees and workers on the snapshot date of 5 April 2022 was 372. The ethnicity breakdown showed that of our employees 21% were Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, 60% were White and 19% staff preferred not to say or did not provide any information.

Our ethnicity pay report also shows that:

  • 19% of people in our upper pay quartile are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, up from 18% in January 2022
  • 30% of people in our upper-middle pay quartile are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, up from 28%
  • 15% of people in our lower-middle pay quartile are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, up from 14%
  • 17% of people in our lower pay quartile are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, down from 20%.

While some organisations are reluctant to carry out ethnicity pay reports, we believe that carrying out ethnicity pay audits – and enacting measures to reduce the ethnicity pay gap – are consistent with our organisational values of Courage, Innovation, Respect, Collaboration, Excellence and Learning.

Marcia Cummings, our Director of Human Resources, said:

“We are strongly committed to equality, diversity and inclusion – and are currently working to implement our 29-point Equality Action Plan and adhere to best practice in terms of equal opportunities.

“We are proud that our ethnic pay gap is so narrow – being 18% less than the London average. As a values-based organisation, ensuring a narrow ethnicity pay gap is an absolute priority for us.

“We will never get complacent, and always look to see if there are more ways that we can ensure a workplace that is fair to all. We will do everything we can to ensure we have the most equitable workplace possible for people of all ethnicities – with any potential barriers to people from different backgrounds being rooted out and eliminated.”

For further information, please contact: