More than half of female teachers believe more could be done to support women going for the top jobs in schools, and around a third of male teachers agree, research shows.

Forty-three per cent of teachers who are women also believe a glass ceiling is holding them back in their careers, according to the new poll.

The poll, of more than 480 teachers in February, also found that 84 per cent of female teachers wouldn’t ever consider asking for a pay rise, compared to approximately three-quarters of male teachers.

The report also expresses concerns that the government’s plans to turn all schools to academies by 2020 “risks creating a system where pay structures are less transparent” and therefore could push women away from the profession. 

A new report, ‘Women and the Education Pay Gap’, argues that “it is more essential than ever” that women are paid equally and encouraged into leadership positions in light of the retention crisis.

Female teachers listed a number of reasons for why they feel unable to move up the career ladder - including a lack of confidence (23 per cent), employer attitudes (21 per cent) and a fear of how they will be perceived by senior management and colleagues (13 per cent).

The report, from recruitment company Randstad, concludes that more needs to be done to encourage women to ask for pay rises and support their development if the number of women becoming headteachers is to increase.

The report has been published just months after TES reported research from Education Datalab showing that women found it harder to take make the move into headship and received a lower payrise than men when they did.

In the government’s education White Paper, it proposes to help schools “to build a diverse workforce” with more opportunities for teachers to work flexibly - including through part-time work and job sharing. 

But the report is concerned that the government’s plans to turn all schools to academies by 2020 “risks creating a system where pay structures are less transparent” and therefore could push women away from the profession.

Three quarters of education professionals have had three or less pay rises in five years and nearly one in three teachers is considering leaving the profession, according to the research.

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