Female Graduates Earn Thousands Less Than Men Despite Going To Same Universities

A new study shows female graduates have fallen foul of gender pay gap

The gender pay gap shows little sign of decreasing as a new study has revealed that female graduates will earn thousands of pounds less than men.

Even women who attained the same UCAS score or attended the same institution as their male counterparts will suffer an incredibly high difference in pay.

Nearly half of recent male graduates are earning in excess of £24,000 in contrast to less than a third of women taking home this amount annually. Furthermore, five times more male graduates than female will earn £40,000 within three years of graduating.

Jane Artess, HECSU director of research, observed that 'equal opportunity to access jobs and pay has been enshrined in legislation for 40 years yet the study found that being female can make a difference to a graduate’s earning power.'

Artess postulated reasons for the difference in salaries between the genders, suggesting that 'women are not bargaining as effectively as men' or that 'they expect lower salaries.'

Following these figures equality campaigners are demanding action to tackle the gender pay gap and the 'strikingly uneven' distribution of pay amongst graduates.

Ceri Goddard, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, urged for a comprehensive women’s employment strategy that directly addresses unequal pay and 'tackle[s] the underrepresentation of women in male-dominated, and better paid industries such as science and technology.'

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