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Gender pay gap is the difference between the average rates of pay for men and women. It reflects broad trends in employment and salaries at an organisation, rather than comparing individuals.
It’s not the same as equal pay, which is the legal requirement to pay people the same rate for the same work.
All UK employers with more than 250 staff are legally required to publish gender pay gap data each year.
The Office for National Statistics state that it is important to look beyond the headline figures, for example 36% of the pay gap is estimated to be driven by occupation group and working pattern.
Diamond’s 2025 gender pay gap
As of 5th April 2025, Diamond employed 630 men and 199 women, representing a gender split of 77% male and 23% female employees.
Our mean gender pay gap for 2025 for all employees is 7.13% and our median gender pay gap is 10.44%. Our mean gender pay gap remains below the National Average for 2024 of 18.1%. [Source: ONS].
Since we began reporting seven years ago, we have seen our gender pay gap reduce by five percentage points, from 12.1% in 2017 to 7.13% in 2025. This steady positive reduction in our gender pay gap has been sustained since 2020 with a decrease in the gap of at least 1% increments each year.
What drives our gender pay gap?
As in previous years, the main reason for our mean and median gender pay gaps continues to be the under-representation of women in senior science, technical and engineering roles. To put our data in context, the latest government workforce data (2023), provides a useful snapshot of gender equity throughout the STEM sector. The overall percentage of women that make up the core STEM workforce is currently 25%. [Source: Education Statistics].
Diamond is committed to rewarding male and female employees equitably and have undertaken Equal Pay Audits since 2021.
Factors affecting our 2025 gender pay gap report
As of 5 April 2025, women made up 23.4% of Diamond Light Source’s workforce, reflecting the wider under-representation of women in the science, engineering, and technology sectors. The mean gender pay gap decreased to 7.13% and the median pay gap to 10.44%, showing continued progress and remaining below UK averages. While national data highlights ongoing gender imbalance in technical roles, Diamond acknowledges this broader context while maintaining responsibility for fair and transparent pay and progression within the organisation.
Bonus pay gap
The mean bonus gender pay gap for 2025 is –20.96% and the median bonus gender pay gap is –23.08%. This indicates that, in this reporting year, the average and median bonus values were higher for women than for men.
What else are we doing to close the gap
- Continuous strengthening inclusive recruitment practices to broaden participation in technical and scientific roles, including reviewing outreach, role design and language to ensure that opportunities attract the widest possible talent pool
- Supporting career progression through structured development pathways, leadership coaching programmes, and professional qualifications to increase female representation in senior and specialist roles
- Enhancing retention through robust maternity, return to work and flexible working support, recognising the importance of maintaining career continuity within research environments
- Embedding inclusive leadership expectations through Values and Behaviour training and ongoing leadership engagement
- Maintaining active oversight through our Research Culture and governance structures to ensure that pay, grading and reward decisions are evidence based and consistently applied
- Engaging staff networks and working groups to inform policy development and ensure that progression initiatives are grounded in lived experience
- These actions are designed not as short term interventions but as part of a sustained strategy to strengthen organisational capability, attract and retain world class talent and ensure that our reward framework supports excellence and fairness in equal measure.
Download previous gender pay gap reports
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
Diamond Light Source Ltd
Diamond House
Harwell Science & Innovation Campus
Didcot
Oxfordshire
OX11 0DE
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