Women graduates still paid less than men in same jobs

By JULIE MIDDLETON

A university survey shows male graduates in their first jobs are still earning more than female graduates doing similar work.

Men who finished their bachelor or honours degrees last year earned a median $35,000 in their first job. Women with the same qualifications received $33,000. The median age for both groups was 23.

The New Zealand Vice-Chancellors Committee is concerned at the result of its annual survey of more than 2700 graduates in the workforce.

Public affairs officer Rodney Bryant described the results as a clear anomaly.

Gaps between men and women in some sectors could be explained, he said. A greater number of the latest batch of male graduates working in health were high-paid doctors or dentists. Women were more likely to be nurses.

But in a survey of 2768 graduates there should be little or no divergence in median incomes. "Everything should come out in the wash."

Last year, 25,627 people graduated from New Zealand's nine universities and 57 per cent of them were women. About 5500 came from Auckland University.

Mr Bryant said that although the 33 per cent response to the postal survey was down on last year's 40 per cent, the result was still statistically relevant.

It showed that, overall, graduate salaries had risen 3 per cent on the previous year.

Increasing numbers of graduates had commerce and business qualifications, possibly because they could earn comparatively more.

"Twenty-four-year-olds can go out with the right qualifications and earn $50,000 straight away," Mr Bryant said.

The survey showed that teachers were increasingly female - 82 per cent of the latest graduates to become teachers were women compared with 79 per cent in the previous survey.

The study confirmed that the number of students aged over 30 was rising and there were more Asian students.

The survey has been done since 1973, and now includes statistics on students' ethnic backgrounds.

The latest survey showed that the top three industries for Pakeha male graduates with bachelors or honours degrees were accounting, Government and manufacturing.

The top three for Pakeha women with the same degrees were health and community services, primary or secondary teaching and Government.

Main fields for Maori male graduates were health and community services, Government, finance and construction. For Maori women, they were primary and secondary teaching followed by Government jobs and health and community service.

NZVCC

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