Summary across disciplines
In the 2018 data we have on the UK women comprise almost a third of the workforce in economics and philosophy – 29.8 per cent and 29.7 per cent respectively – and over half of the workforce in sociology (55.1 per cent). This represents significant gains in women’s representation in these social science disciplines in the preceding decades. With the exception of sociology (41.3 per cent) women remain underrepresented at professor level: 22.4 per cent in economics, 26.2 per cent in history, 23.7 per cent in philosophy, and 22.4 per cent in political science.
Single figure of women’s representation across disciplines
AdvanceHE (formerly the Equity Challenge Unit) supports ‘transformative leadership and management, teaching and learning, equality, diversity and inclusion, and effective governance, including the importance of accreditation of teaching and learning programmes, Athena SWAN, and the Race Equality Charter’. Their Equality + Higher Education Staff Statistical Report (2018) which has been used for comparable data for each of the disciplines in this study uses data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) for the 2016-17 academic year. The 2018 report states that the proportion of academic staff who were women increased from 30 per cent in 2003-04 to 45 per cent in 2016-17 but women remained underrepresented in senior positions, and overrepresented on part-time contracts and teaching only contracts. The 2020 and 2019 statistical reports for also available on the AdvanceHE website.
Figure 1: Appointments of women in five disciplines in the UK, 2018
Source: AdvanceHE (2018) Equality + Higher Education Staff Statistical Report.
Economics
The Royal Economics Society Women’s Committee (RESWC) conducts surveys of webpages of economics departments and research institutes to collect data on women’s representation in the discipline. In the two decades since the first survey in 1996, when women made up 17 per cent of the workforce and 5 per cent of professors, the proportion of women at all academic levels has increased (Mitka, Mumford & Sechel, 2015; Tenreyro, 2017). RESWC figures for 2016 are similar to the AdvanceHE figures with women as 28 per cent of staff in academic positions but only 16 per cent of professors (Tenreyro, 2017). The AdvanceHE Equality + Higher Education Staff Statistical Report (2018) gave the numbers of women in academic staff in ‘Economics, econometrics’ as almost 30 per cent. The underlying data shows that 14 per cent of professorial appointments are women and 33 per cent of all other appointments are women.
History
The first Royal Historical Society (RHS) report on gender equality in 2015 used figures from HESA in 2012-13 that revealed that less than 40 per cent of academic history staff were women and only 20.8 per cent of professors were female. The subsequent RHS report in 2018 found that basic structural inequalities in gender had improved only marginally. The total number of women in academic appointments had increased to 41.6 per cent, and the number in professorial positions had increased to 26.2 per cent: 44.5 per cent of all other appointments were women.
Philosophy
The Society for Women in Philosophy and the British Philosophical Association Committee for Women in Philosophy conducted a survey of 38 philosophy departments between 2008 and 2011. It found that women represented 28 per cent of senior lecturer positions, but only 19 per cent of professorial positions. Women held 24 per cent of permanent positions and 28 per cent of temporary positions. In 2018 the AdvanceHE Report gave the numbers of women in academic staff in philosophy as 29.7 per cent. The underlying data from the Equity Challenge Unit shows that 23.7 per cent of professorial appointments are women, and 31 per cent of all other appointments are women.
Political Science
A 2011 survey of 77 political science department websites found that women made up 30.8 per cent of the academic political science workforce (Bates, Jenkins & Pflaeger, 2012). While still a minority, women have seen sustained progress in their representation since 1978 when they accounted for 10 per cent of political scientists in the UK. Women and men hold a similar proportion of teaching/research fellow positions, however, as rank increases, the proportion of women decreases and they move more slowly than men through the academic hierarchy. In 2018 the AdvanceHE Report gave the numbers of women in academic staff in ‘Politics, international studies’ as 37.1 per cent. The underlying data from the Equity Challenge Unit showed that 22.4 per cent of professorial appointments were women and 39.7 per cent of all other appointments were women.
Sociology
A lack of data on the gender division of academic appointments in sociology means we cannot say anything about trends over time. In 2018 the AdvanceHE Report gave the numbers of women in academic staff in sociology as 55.1 per cent. The underlying data from the Equity Challenge Unit (using HESA data) showed that 41.3 per cent of professorial appointments were women and 56.8 per cent of all other appointments were women.
References
AdvanceHE (2018) Equality + Higher Education Staff Statistical Report.
Stephen Bates, Laura Jenkins and Zoe Pflaeger (2012) ‘The profession in Politics and International Studies, women in the profession: The composition of UK Political Science departments by sex’, Politics 32(3), 139–152.
Helen Beebee and Jenny Saul (2011) Women in Philosophy in the UK. British Philosophical Association and the Society for Women in Philosophy UK Joint BPA/SWIP Committee for Women in Philosophy.
Malgorzata Maria Mitka, Karen Mumford and Cristina Sechel (2015) The 10th Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee Survey: The Gender Balance of Academic Economics in the UK 2014. Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee.
Nicola Miller, Kenneth Fincham, Margot Finn, Sarah Holland, Christopher Kissane and Mary Vincen (2018) Promoting Gender Equality in UK History: A Second Report and Recommendations for Good Practice. Royal Historical Society.
Royal Historical Society (2015) Gender Equality and Historians in UK Higher Education.
Silvana Tenreyro (2017) Royal Economic Society’s Report on The Gender Balance in UK Economics Departments and Research Institutes in 2016. Royal Economic Society Women’s Committee.