Each year, organisations with more than 250 employees are required to report their gender pay gap data. The gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of men and women. This is the sixth year that RIBA has reported gender pay gap data.
For the second time, we are also publishing our ethnicity pay gap data. For this report, we categorise employee ethnicity as Black, Asian and ethnic minority, or white. We recognise the limitations and challenges of these categories however this reflects the data we hold. Our approach to collecting and reporting data will improve over time, but it is important that we publish this data even with these existing limitations. The ethnicity pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority colleagues and white colleagues.
Insights from both sets of data enable us to develop targeted actions to improve gender and ethnicity representation and equity across our organisation.
We have outlined our 2022 gender and ethnicity pay gap data below. This snapshot was taken on 5 April 2022, when RIBA employed 283 people.
Gender pay
- median gender pay gap: 15.06% - up from 11.32% the previous year
- mean gender pay gap: 16.21% - down from 18.91% the previous year
- proportion of men in the organisation receiving a bonus payment: 4.76% - up from 3.51% the previous year
- proportion of women in the organisation receiving a bonus payment: 0.00% - no change
- mean bonus gender pay gap: 100% - no change
- median bonus gender pay gap: 100% - no change
Proportion of females and males at each salary quartile
| Quartile | Female | Male |
| Upper | 44.29% | 55.71% |
| Upper middle | 64.79% | 35.21% |
| Lower middle | 69.01% | 30.99% |
| Lower | 73.24% | 26.76% |
| Total workforce | Female | Male |
| 62.90% | 37.10% |
Ethnicity pay
- median ethnicity pay gap: 7.10% - up from 5.62% the previous year
- mean ethnicity pay gap: 10.12% - up from 1.29% the previous year
- proportion of white people in the organisation receiving a bonus payment: 60% - up from 50% the previous year
- proportion of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority people in the organisation receiving a bonus payment: 40% - up from 25% the previous year
- mean bonus ethnicity pay gap: 9.74% - down from 80.25% the previous year
- median bonus ethnicity pay gap: 16.62% - down from 80.25% the previous year
Proportion of white and Black, Asian, and ethnic minority people at each salary level
| Quartile | White | Black, Asian, and ethnic minority | Not reportable |
| Upper | 80% | 18.57% | 1.43% |
| Upper middle | 83.10% | 11.27% | 5.63% |
| Lower middle | 76.06% | 21.13% | 2.82% |
| Lower | 74.65% | 22.54% | 2.82% |
| Total workforce | White | Black, Asian, and ethnic minority | Not reportable |
| 78.45% | 18.37% | 3.18% |
RIBA Chief Executive Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick MBE said:
“We know we have work to do to create a more equitable RIBA. That is why it is vital we review our gender and ethnicity pay gap data annually, as it enables us to identify and address disparities within our organisation. The data reported today is a summary of the organisation a year ago – and we are forecasting an improvement in the results for 2023, as the demographics of our senior management have significantly changed.
In 2022, our mean gender pay gap saw a decrease on the previous year of 2.70%. This was due to employees leaving and joining across the organisation, including a net reduction of six women in the lower quartile, compared to no net loss of men in the same quartile. Whilst RIBA’s employee workforce was mainly female (62.90% female and 37.10% male), women were underrepresented at the senior level (upper quartile) but were disproportionately overrepresented in the three other quartiles. This resulted in a mean gender pay gap of 16.21%.
In terms of ethnicity, our 2022 data shows that most RIBA employees are white. Our mean ethnicity pay gap of 10.12% was higher than the 1.29% figure reported in 2021. At most levels of the organisation, Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues made up around 20% of employees – aside from the upper middle quartile, where this figure was just 11.27%. Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues made up a higher proportion of lower paid employees and a lower proportion of higher paid employees than in 2021.
Since the 2022 data was captured, we have restructured our organisation. We have welcomed new colleagues, myself included. We understand the task ahead in creating a more equitable RIBA. In 2022, we developed and improved our recruitment and selection processes. We reviewed our pay and reward strategy and identified actions to implement in 2023 and 2024.
This year we are embedding cultural change in our organisation. We are focusing on the key areas of recruitment, retention and progression. We expect this work to be positively reflected in our results in the coming years.
We have started to improve our recruitment processes to capture more diverse talent – advertising jobs on a broader range of websites, emphasising flexible working and reasonable adjustments, and using more skills-based assessment to allow candidates to demonstrate their ability outside of the interview setting. We will review our family-friendly policies to identify opportunities for improvement. We will implement new pay and reward strategy recommendations, deliver Inclusive Recruitment and Dignity at Work training for all managers, and develop a plan for every colleague to be trained on inclusion and diversity. Exiting the pandemic, we continue to improve colleague induction, embedding RIBA values and behaviours.
I would encourage all practices and our members to examine their own pay gaps and identify opportunities to take action to support women and Black, Asian and ethnic minority colleagues in the workplace. Every organisation, no matter how large or small, must prioritise closing the gender and ethnicity pay gap.”
RIBA Director of Inclusion and Diversity Robbie Turner said:
“RIBA has work to do to eradicate our gender and ethnicity pay gap and we are committed to taking evidence-based action to drive the change.
We are looking at our own trends and data in much more granular detail, so we can identify targeted interventions in relation to all aspects of gender, cultural, or ethnic identity, intersectionality, or individual experience, and most importantly so we can track the impact of our work.”
Find out more about our own gender pay gap guidance.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has also created ethnicity pay gap guidance.
