Gender Balance In The Public Sector Occupations – Speech and Language Therapists, is reffering to the Speech and language therapy (SLT) that help with the management of disorders of speech, language, and communication and swallowing in children and adults. The majority of speech and language therapists are employed by NHS Trusts and work in schools, hospitals, clinics, health centres and day-care centres. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) is the professional body for speech and language therapists in the UK, providing leadership and
setting professional standards. They complement the work of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as the main regulator of qualified SLTs in the UK.

The characterises shows that a SLT are prominently of a white ethnicity background in the age range of 25 – 34 years old. The ethnicity of the applicants are are the following, White (92%), Mixed (3%) and Asian (Chinese) (2%). The briefing paper highlights the salary for senior and with management experience SLT’s ranging from £36,000 up to £58,000. There is a alarming concern of ex SLT professionals who are leaving the profession after the age of 49 Years, in a female lead industry.

There is a case for equality in the SLT sector, as with a densely populated population with a mixture of young children to elderly adults, The Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) estimates that the supply of registered SLTs available to the NHS, Local Authorities and other providers will increase by 36% by 2016.

However, there has been a lack of senior level practitioners in certain areas as stated before of having female lead industry and with a certain age group, recording that part-time SLT need to have a work-life balance with others commitments. This age gap could be reduced with a greater recruitment campaign to have more men into the
profession.

The gender inequality and imbalance in the SLT staffing has been acknowledged, but a solution to the inequality and imbalance has yet to be found. A quota or large recruitment drive in numbers to encourage and have some sort of gender equality within male applicants.

View Full Article Here.