Female Students

The gender pay gap starts at university. Female graduates choose salaries up to £1438 lower than male graduates. Research from graduate-jobs.com – the largest independent graduate jobs board in the UK – shows that on average, female graduates request lower starting salaries than their male counterparts when looking to start their career – and have done so for at least the last ten years.

graduate-jobs.com analysed the salaries requested by a total of 498,696 graduate job seekers over the course of 2003 to 2013. The specialist jobs board found that the average starting salary currently requested by female graduate job seekers is £1,438 lower than male graduates. This gap between the genders has remained relatively consistent, although became more pronounced in 2011. 

The current average requested salary for male graduates is £20,219, and for female graduates £18,781, a gap that is 44 per cent wider than in 2003 when female graduates’ average requested starting salary was £17,507 which was £999 lower than the £18,506 average requested by males.

Read more from the report here

Women in the labour market 

This report, produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), examines women in the labour market. It looks at employment rates, occupations, skill levels of jobs, and pay for women - and compares this with men. It also considers women with and without children.

The report reveals:

  • Men tend to work in the professional occupations associated with higher levels of pay than women.
  • Men make up the majority of workers in the top 10% of earners for all employees (but the gap is lower for those under 30).
  • Men have consistently higher employment rates than women above the age of 22.
  • Men with children are more likely to work than those without - the picture is the opposite for women.
  • That there is an employment rate gap between mothers in a couple, and lone mothers; (smaller for those with older children).
  • Women dominate employment within caring and leisure occupations.
  • The number of women working within managerial roles slightly is higher than the EU average.
  • Rising employment for women and falling employment for men over 40 years.

Download the full report:  Women in the labour market (PDF 415KB)

Gender and positive action recruitment initiatives:

Many employers take part in positive action recruitment initiatives in order to address gender-related underrepresentation in their industries  TARGETjobs runs a number of these events on behalf of employers, including:

See also:

Women in Scientific Careers

This report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee investigates factors behind the lack of gender diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and women's lack of progression in STEM careers, and looks at how to address these issues. 

Download the full report: Women in scientific careers (PDF 508 KB)

Improving Diversity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)

This report brings together data and research from the last five years to build a picture of the current state of diversity in STEM, from education to the workforce. The findings show that it is still the case that women, (as well as disabled people and those from ethnic minorities or socially-disadvantaged group) are consistently under-represented, particularly at senior levels, in science and engineering.

The report recommends tangible actions for the government and the sector. Some strong themes emerge, including the need for:

  • government to show leadership in tackling diversity
  • a fully equipped and diverse teaching workforce
  • better reporting and public monitoring of diversity data

Author(s): Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) 2014

Download the full report: Improving Diversity in STEM (PDF 1011KB)

"Female students urged to apply for top graduate schemes"

Female students are less likely to aim for top graduate jobs but more likely to land them if they apply, says the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

Its survey of leading employers found that, while 54% of students are women, they make up just 47% of graduate scheme applicants.

But they took 49% of the posts, the responses by 170 employers showed.

"Many women don't apply for the top schemes when they should," said AGR chief executive Stephen Isherwood.

Improving the gender diversity of graduate programmes is largely a challenge of attracting women in the first place, says the report.

Once they apply women are more likely to be hired, according to the survey sent to AGR members in April this year.

You can read the rest of this BBC article here

Equality and Diversity Internships

There are a range of equality and diversity internships, events and programmes which are designed to encourage greater diversity within organisations and the sectors which they operate in. Click here to find out more about them.

Last modified: 
Friday, January 17, 2020 - 15:54