Salary differences between Australian male and female university graduates are widening, according to a Workplace Gender Equity Agency study, reports the Canberra Times (January 4, 2013).
The
Australian government’s Workplace Gender Equity Agency study found the overall median
gap in starting salaries between male and female graduates widened by 150% from
2011 to 2012. In 2011 the salary gap was about $2,000 a year, but it jumped to
$5,000 a year in 2012. The agency’s research executive manager, Dr. Carla Harris,
said there was not adequate explanation for the difference in male and female
pay for new graduates. The study examined the starting salaries in 23
occupations from figures in Graduate Careers Australia and found that male
graduates earned more than female graduates in 13 fields.
The pay
differences were largest in the fields of architecture and building
occupations, which showed females earning 17.3% less than male graduates.
Female dentistry graduates earned 15.7% less than male graduates, and female
law graduates earned 8.5% less than their Australian male counterparts. The
graduate pay was the same for both males and females in the education, humanities,
and medicine occupations.
Female
graduates earned more in 7 of the 23 occupations examined by the research team.
These included pharmacy, earth science, and computer science. But these gaps
were generally smaller than occupations in which male graduates were paid more.
Dr. Harris of
the Workplace Gender Equity Agency said that the difference was based on
corporate culture. She said employers tended to hire people who were like them
as it “made them feel comfortable and reduces conflict.” A separate study by
the American Sociological Association found employers at elite firms employed
people like themselves. The research from the School of Management at
Northwestern University in America showed that bosses at three companies chose
candidates with whom they thought they would like as friends.
The Workplace
Gender Equity Agency of Australia recommended that all businesses review their
starting salaries for new graduates to ensure that they were fair for both
males and females.
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