Nurse career progression: men are promoted faster than women
Extent of advantage enjoyed by male nurses revealed, as report also exposes scale of race-based inequality, shown in slower progression of nurses who are black or have Asian heritage
Female nurses have to wait much longer to be promoted than their male counterparts, a report shows.
Some 75% of men at the lowest point of band 5 had progressed to a band 6 post or above within a decade, in contrast to only 65% of women, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) research found.
When sex-based inequality in nursing meets race-based disadvantage
Analysts used staff records and Agenda for Change (AfC) pay band data to explore nursing career progression between 2012 and 2021 in England. Their work exposes a number of disparities, including notable variations by ethnicity.
While 67% of white nurses in the cohort were at band 6 or above by the end of the decade, only 60% of black nurses and 52% of nurses with Asian heritage enjoyed the same progression.
There were regional differences too. A nurse who started work in Greater London was 45% more likely to be at band 6 or above nine years later than a nurse who started in the north east England. The researchers speculate this may be explained by some regions having a greater need for senior nurses, or progression being a means of increasing pay in areas where cost of living is higher.
Reasons why male nurses progress faster than female – and white nurses faster than black or Asian peers
The report concludes that more research is needed to explain the reasons for the disparities. The authors say there is a question over whether they are driven by by unequal access to promotion and training, or whether they largely reflect differences in skills, experience and career preferences between groups.
The government in England has previously acknowledged the need to improve career progression in nursing, which the IFS report shows lags behind that of midwives, paramedics and allied health professionals.
As part of AfC pay negotiations in 2023, the government noted a desire to address problems in recruitment, retention and career development in nursing, promising to work with employers and unions to improve opportunities for nursing career progression.
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