Bill Harvey: Please mind the gap

After a week when everyone was talking about the gender pay inequality at the BBC, who hasn’t given just a little thought as to whether this is reflected in the eye care professions?

GOC data showed that, at 31 March 2016, 59% of fully qualified registrants were female and 41% were male. This compares with the UK population where 51% is female. The commonest age range for optometrists was 25 to 34 years (34%) and 35 to 44 years for dispensing opticians (29%). Though inferring specific points from questionnaire-derived data can be dangerous, the GOC data also showed that the trend was towards younger age, increasing female representation, and increasing variety of ethnic representation.