A commitment to equal opportunities is important in our recruitment and in sustaining an atmosphere in which all staff are happy to work and develop their careers. The proportion of women recruited and promoted to senior posts at IFS is very high. Among senior staff, the gender split is 50:50. Amongst the full-time staff as a whole, the proportion of men to women is currently 60:40. We ensure a balance at all levels by supporting a flexible family-friendly policy, allowing both men and women to adjust their working hours according to the needs of their families.

IFS also aims to comply with its statutory obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976 and accordingly it is our practice not to treat one group of people less favourably than others because of their colour, race, nationality or ethnic origin in relation to decisions to recruit, train or promote employees.

IFS also provides funding for a number of PhD scholars from outside the UK, who work alongside the research teams and are supervised by senior Centre staff. This helps develop our international networks and brings new perspectives to our work. We appoint a number of International Research Fellows, who visit several times a year to collaborate on research projects.