The industries where women actually get equal, or higher, pay

Female university students are earning less money than their male counterparts in almost every area of study. These are the exceptions.

Female university graduates are earning less money than their male counterparts in almost every area of study, a new report has revealed.

While overall job prospects upon graduating are similar for men and women, the 2021 Graduate Outcomes Survey released this week showed three years out of university, male graduates earned an average of $4900, or 6.1 per cent, more than their female peers.

The same cohort in 2018, immediately after graduating from university, had recorded an average $3000 or 4.7 per cent gap.

Areas of study which recorded the biggest gender pay gaps among its graduates were architecture and built environment, where male graduates were paid an average of $17,900 or 21.1 per cent more than women.

This was followed by creative arts ($6600 or 9.9 per cent), medicine ($7400 or 6.6 per cent), and business and management ($5000 or 6.3 per cent).

Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching director of research and strategy Lisa Bolton said the study clearly showed the salary gap increased over time, and significantly widened the more years after graduating.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson

And the pay gap was even more pronounced for those who completed postgraduate study.

“In terms of the gender salary gap, male postgraduates... earned $12,000 more than females, 13 per cent in the short term,” she said.

“The gap in full-time salaries increased three years later, with males earning $15,00 or 13.6 per cent more than females.”

But there were some areas of study where female graduates earned more than their male counterparts, including psychology, where women earned an average $1600 or 2.2 per cent more.

Other areas of study such as communications, engineering, and computing and information systems had little to no gender pay gap.

The longitudinal study also found graduates overall employment rates had been largely unaffected by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said the survey showed employment outcomes remained steady, despite the global disruptions.

“A university degree remains one of the best investments you can make in life,” she said.

“It expands your horizons and opens the path to well-paid, full-time work, even when the labour market has been doing it tough.”

“A degree represents more than just an insurance policy in difficult economic times – it opens a world of possibilities.”