Raw deal for women

Women graduates still earn less than men across all sectors and occupations in the UK, according to a new Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) report published on August 13.

The report, written by Kate Purcell, Director of the Employment Studies Research Unit at the University of the West of England, shows that the pay gap is widest for law, mathematics and computing graduates and narrowest for education graduates. It is also wider in the private sector than in the public sector.

Women and men are concentrated in different subjects in higher education and often enter different occupations, yet women earn less on average even when they have studied the same subjects, achieved the same class of degree or entered the same industry or occupation.

Commenting on the report, Jenny Watson, Deputy Chair of the EOC, said: "With a pay gap of 15% young female graduates are getting a raw deal when they start work. More than half of all higher education students are women, and last year they gained more first class degrees than men. Yet they still earn less on average than men whatever subject they have studied and whatever career they enter - and this pay gap widens as they get older. For many young women who expect to find equality in the workplace, their first pay packet comes as a rude awakening.

"Employers cannot afford to ignore the graduate pay gap. They know that their success depends on recruiting the best talent available. If employers can't show that they take equal pay seriously they are likely to find it increasingly difficult to attract the best graduates. Carrying out a pay review is still the best way to demonstrate that your company is committed to making pay discrimination a thing of the past".

The EOC launched its '15 per cent off' campaign in March 2002 with the support of the National Union of Students. The campaign is designed to raise students' awareness of the 15% pay gap for graduates aged 20-24, and to encourage them to ask employers what they were doing about equal pay. The NUS will be running the campaign again at universities and colleges around the country next term.

(GB)