Base salary for Australian graduates: different gender, different pay

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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