The Bank of England (BoE) have announced its new appointment to the Monetary Policy Committee.
Prof Jonathan Haskel has been announced as the new member of the committee, as of September of this year.
Prof Haskel is professor of economics and Imperial College Business School, one of the UK’s leading universities.
However, the appointment has been met with criticism, amid concerns that the Bank is not doing enough to address the under-representation of women.
The Treasury said four women and one man were shortlisted for the post.
Currently, only one woman, Silvana Tenreyo, sits on the monetary committee.
Earlier this month the bank came under fire after the Deputy Governor used the term “menopausal” to describe the British economy.
Ben Broadbent said the comments in a Daily Telegraph interview about economies that were, as he described, “past their peak, and no longer so potent”.
Ben Broadbent since apologised for the offensive remark, however, the bank is still under scrutiny for its lack of proactivity with with respect to addressing gender imbalances.
What’s more, last November the Bank of England revealed a gender pay gap of almost a quarter.
When asked about the pay gap, governor Mark Carney maintained men and women were paid equally for the same work.
“However, the greater proportion of men than women in senior roles creates a gender pay gap,” he conceded.
“We are working hard to address this imbalance… addressing the disparity in gender representation at senior levels will take time, but it will help close the current gender pay gap at the Bank.”
The Bank of England’s latest appointment follows the release of a government-backed report on gender balance in the workplace.
The report collated some responses from various FTSE-350 companies.
Amanda Mackenzie, chief executive of Business in the Community, said:
“As you read this list of excuses you might think it’s 1918, not 2018.
“It reads like a script from a comedy parody but it’s true. Surely we can now tackle this once and for all.”
