The pay gap between men and women who have just graduated from university and are working full-time in their chosen field narrowed to $1100 or 1.9 per cent in 2017, from 6.4 per cent in 2016.
But in engineering, female graduates notched up a median salary of $65,000 compared to $63,500 for men, according to the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey results.
This compared to $62,300 and $62,600 respectively the previous year. (See table below)
Engineers Australia Queensland manager Stacey Rawlings said the group was aware of data indicating that female engineering graduates had been earning more than males in some sectors for several years now.
“Reports that this is now across-the-board for all engineering occupations is a welcome indicator that employers are recognising the value of having a diverse workforce,” she said.
“Women still make up a small percentage of all engineering graduates, so it is little wonder that a scarce and valuable pool of workers is able to command a higher salary.
“A sobering reality, however, is that there is still a wide gap in pay between male and female professionals in engineering-intensive sectors. In construction, men earn 23 per cent more than women, in consulting it is 22 per cent and in manufacturing it is 14 per cent.”
The GOS is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training, and in 2016 and 2017 was administered by the Social Research Centre.
The 2017 GOS was primarily conducted as a national online survey among 97 higher education institutions.
It found 71.8 per cent of undergraduates were in full-time employment four months after completing their degree in 2017, up from 70.9 per cent in the previous year.
The areas with the highest graduate salaries were dentistry at $78,300, medicine, $70,300, engineering, $64,000, and teacher education, $63,500.
In 2017, postgraduate coursework graduates from business and management, dentistry, computing and information systems, and engineering received the highest median salaries of $109,000, $102,200, $88,700 and $87,000 respectively.
View the full report HERE.
Undergraduate median full-time salaries by study area, 2016 and 2017
| Study area | Male ($) 2016 | Male ($) 2017 | Female ($) 2016* | Female ($) 2017 | Total ($) 2016 | Total ($) 2017 |
| Science and mathematics | 60,000 | 59,200 | 54,000 | 56,900 | 55,200 | 57,500 |
| Computing and Information Systems | 59,500 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 58,000 | 60,000 | 59,900 |
| Engineering | 62,600 | 63,500 | 62,300 | 65,000 | 62,600 | 64,000 |
| Architecture and built environment | 59,000 | 60,000 | 50,000 | 52,200 | 55,000 | 56,400 |
| Agriculture and environmental studies | 57,000 | 57,400 | 53,500 | 55,000 | 55,000 | 55,800 |
| Health services and support | 64,000 | 62,600 | 58,200 | 60,500 | 59,500 | 61,300 |
| Medicine | 70,000 | 71,000 | 68,200 | 70,000 | 69,200 | 70,300 |
| Nursing | 60,500 | 62,000 | 58,400 | 60,000 | 58,400 | 60,000 |
| Pharmacy | 43,800 | 45,900 | 43,600 | 43,800 | 43,800 | 44,200 |
| Dentistry | 84,000 | 94,600 | 82,800 | 75,100 | 83,500 | 78,300 |
| Veterinary science | n/a | n/a | 50,000 | 50,600 | 50,000 | 51,600 |
| Rehabilitation | 60,700 | 62,600 | 59,000 | 60,500 | 60,000 | 61,500 |
| Teacher education | 63,600 | 65,000 | 62,600 | 63,400 | 62,900 | 63,500 |
| Business and management | 57,000 | 58,000 | 53,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 | 55,200 |
| Humanities, culture and social sciences | 57,400 | 59,600 | 54,800 | 55,100 | 55,000 | 57,000 |
| Social work | 60,500 | 63,200 | 60,000 | 62,500 | 60,000 | 62,600 |
| Psychology | 54,000 | 60,000 | 54,800 | 56,600 | 54,800 | 57,600 |
| Law and paralegal studies | 63,000 | 63,000 | 57,400 | 58,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 |
| Creative arts | 50,000 | 49,600 | 47,000 | 47,200 | 48,000 | 48,000 |
| Communications | 48,000 | 50,000 | 48,000 | 50,000 | 48,000 | 50,000 |
| Tourism, hospitality, personal services, sport and recreation | n/a | 55,000 | 51,400 | 51,800 | 52,200 | 52,200 |
| All study areas* | 60,000 | 60,100 | 56,400 | 59,000 | 57,900 | 60,000 |
| Standard deviation | 8,300 | 9,600 | 8,400 | 7,400 | 8,300 | 7,500 |
