A teaching union is arguing that “gender politics” may be a factor in teaching salaries lagging behind those in comparable professions.

The EIS says that Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures confirm that salaries in male-dominated professions tend to be significantly higher than in teaching, where the majority of employees are women.

General secretary Larry Flanagan said: “Teaching remains a predominantly female profession, with nearly eight in every 10 teachers in Scotland being women. It is interesting to note, from official ONS data, that the teaching profession lags significantly behind more male-dominated professions in terms of pay.

Teachers’ ‘low’ pay

“Analysis of the ONS data shows that, in professions where around 80 per cent of the workforce are men, salaries can average around £10,000 more than the top of the main-grade pay scale for Scotland’s, largely female, teacher workforce.”

Mr Flanagan added: “The gap between the average salaries of men and the average salaries of women exists because too often certain key roles within society have been defined as ‘women’s work’, and ‘women’s work’ has traditionally been both undervalued and underpaid.

“It certainly appears that this applies to teaching also, when comparing teachers’ pay to pay in other professions.”

The EIS, which is Scotland’s biggest teaching union, analysed data from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.