January 2013

GradStats starting salaries

Graduate degree holders: an overview
The gender pay gap for graduates has increased over the past year. The 2012 GradStats report by Graduate Careers Australia shows median full-time employment starting salaries for: men as $55,000 (up from $52,000 in 2011) women as $50,000 (no change from 2011) The gender pay gap increased from $2,000 to $5,000 in 2012. Mens earnings have increased over the year whilst those of women have not. Across all occupations, the gender pay gap for starting salaries was 9.1% (up 5.2 percentage points from 2011).
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Pay differences between women and men by industry: graduate degree holders Occupations where men earned more than women in 2012
Industry Architecture and building Dentistry Optometry Law Economics, business Art and design Accounting Mathematics Veterinary science Paramedical studies Social work Psychology Agricultural science Male ($, 000) 52 92 82 55 50 42.5 50 58.1 46 53 50.9 49.5 50.5 Female ($, 000) 43 77.6 75 50.7 47 40 48 56 45 52 50 49 50 Gender pay gap (%) 17.3 15.7 8.5 7.8 6.0 5.9 4.0 3.6 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.0 1.0 Change from 2011
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Table 1: Occupational categories where male median graduate starting salaries exceeded female median graduate starting salaries

3.3 9.4 5.8 4.0 4.0 1.1 0.2 3.6 6.8 2.0 3.8 5.0 3.2

Source: Graduate Careers Australia (2012), GradStats, viewed 17 December 2012, http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/research/researchreports/gradstats/

Workplace Gender Equality Agency | GradStats starting salaries | www.wgea.gov.au

In 13 occupational categories mens starting salaries were greater than womens (Table 1). Architecture and building and Dentistry had the largest differences, with male starting salaries 17.3% and 15.7% larger than female ones respectively. Psychology and Agricultural science had the smallest gender pay gap. Veterinary science, Social work and Agricultural science were all occupations where women had earned more than men in 2011 and in Mathematics starting salaries had shown no gender gap in 2011. Psychology, Economics and business, Paramedical studies and Accounting were the only occupations where the gender pay gap declined compared to 2011.

Occupations where women earned more than men in 2012

Industry Biological sciences Engineering Physical sciences Social sciences Computer sciences Earth sciences Pharmacy (pre-reg) Male ($, 000) 49.5 63 55 45 52 68.5 36 Female ($, 000) 50 64 56 47 55 75 39.7 Gender pay gap -1.0 -1.6 -1.8 -4.4 -5.8 -9.5 -10.3
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Table 2: Occupational categories where female median graduate starting salaries exceeded male median graduate starting salaries

Change from 2011 2.7 1.6 4.2 0.3 8.7 23.8 9.2

Source: Graduate Careers Australia (2012), GradStats, viewed 17 December 2012, http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/research/researchreports/gradstats/

There were only seven occupational categories where womens starting salaries were greater than mens in 2012. (Table 2): Pharmacy was the occupational area with greatest gender pay gap in favour of women, with their starting salaries on average 10.3% greater than mens. Biological sciences had the smallest difference, with women earning 1.0% more than men. The areas where women outearned men in relation to starting salaries in 2012 have changed since 2011. Biological sciences, Engineering, Computer Science and Earth sciences have replaced Veterinary science, Agricultural science and Social work. In Veterinary science, Agricultural science and Social work in 2012, there was a gender pay gap in men's favour (see Table 1). Despite the existence of occupational categories where women have higher starting salaries than men: There are far fewer of these categories (seven compared to 13). However, this is one more than in 2011. The gender pay gaps within occupational categories are smaller, with a maximum difference of $6,500 in areas where women earn more than their male counterparts, but over $14,000 where men earn more than women.

Occupations where women and men had the same staring salaries in 2012
Table 3: Occupational categories where male and female median graduate starting salaries were equal Industry Education Humanities Medicine Male ($, 000) 56 45 60 Female ($, 000) 56 45 60 Gender pay gap 0.0 0.0 0.0 Change from 2011 0.0 2.3 3.3

Source: Graduate Careers Australia (2012), GradStats, viewed 17 December 2012, http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/research/researchreports/gradstats/

Workplace Gender Equality Agency | GradStats starting salaries | www.eowa.gov.au

 Only three occupational categories had no gender pay gap in starting salaries, see Table 3. Other than Education, the occupations where there was no gender pay have changed since 2011 with Humanities and Medicine replacing Engineering and Mathematics.

Postgraduate degree holders: pay differences between men and women by highest qualification type
The gender pay gap for median salaries for women and men in full-time employment with a postgraduate qualification in 2011 is shown in Figure 1. The pay difference between postgraduate starting salaries for women and men is substantial at 15.0%. The smallest gender pay gap was for those who had completed Research Master/PhD degrees (2.7%). Large gender pay gaps existed for those who had obtained postgraduate Diploma/Certificate and Coursework Masters qualifications. Figure 1: Median salaries in full-time employment and gender pay gap (%) for postgraduates by level of qualification, 2011

100,000 18.8% gap 80,000 Median Salary ($) 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Postgraduate Coursework Masters Diploma/Certificate 17.6% gap

2.7% gap

15.0% gap

Research Masters/PhD

All Postgraduates Males Females

Highest postgraduate qualilfication attained

Source: Graduate Careers Australia (2012), Postgraduate Destinations Report 2011, viewed 11 December 2012, http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/Research/ResearchReports/PostgraduateDestinations *The percentages in bold are the gender pay gap for each qualification type

Workplace Gender Equality Agency | GradStats starting salaries | www.eowa.gov.au

Gender differences in attainment of higher education degrees

As shown in Figure 2: Women hold the majority of bachelor degrees (54.7% of all degree holders). More men have postgraduate degrees than women (52.8% are held by men). Figure 2: Population aged 1564 years by main field of highest higher education qualification by gender, 2012 1600 1400 1200

Number ('000)

1000 800 600 400 200 0 Bachelor Degree Postgraduate Degree Level of highest qualification attained Male Female

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2012), Education and Work, cat. No. 6227.0, viewed 11 December 2012, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6227.0

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The statistics provided in Tables 1-3 are for bachelor degree graduates under 25 and in their first full-time employment.

Throughout the report, figures in the Change from 2011 column denote the percentage point change. Arrows represent the direction of change (up for increase or down for decrease) in the gender pay gap from 2011.
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A minus figure denotes a pay gap in favour of women.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency | GradStats starting salaries | www.eowa.gov.au