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UEL Professor recognised for gender pay gap research

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Professor Len Shackleton

Professor Len Shackleton, Dean of Royal Docks Business School at the University of East London was presented with the Arthur Seldon Award for Excellence by Professor Gary Becker of the University of Chicago, Nobel Prize-winner for Economics.

The Award, given every two years, is for the best piece of work published by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The IEA is a free-market think-tank, founded in 1955 to explain free-market ideas to the public, business, academic and government sectors.

The presentation was held as part of the Annual Hayek Memorial Lecture delivered by Professor Becker at the Church House Conference Centre in Westminster last month.

Professor Shackleton received the award for his 2008 monograph on the Gender Pay Gap. His research argues that public policy could do relatively little to affect this statistical measure, which few policy makers understand or can interpret.

Professor Shackleton says, “The gender pay gap can increase or decrease for reasons that have nothing to do with discrimination or employer actions. There are also other ‘pay gaps’ that exist between gay and straight employees, between married and single individuals of the same gender, and between workers from different ethnic groups, yet these discrepancies are rarely reported on.”

Professor Shackleton is recognised as a field leader in labour market economics, authoring a range of publications on issues including skills and training, employment regulation, gender and ethnicity, immigration and the informal economy. Professor Shackleton is Dean of the Royal Docks Business School and Professor of Economics at the University of East London.

Professor Shackleton will be speaking to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics on Wednesday, 21 July.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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