Female graduates are being paid thousands of pounds less than men in the same job, an equality group is warning.
The UK’s gender pay gap remains “stubborn,” with female graduates often earning as much as £8,000 less than their male counterparts, an equality group has warned.
Women’s educational success is not being carried through to the workplace, with many earning less than men even if they have studied the same subject, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said.
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The commission said female graduates start on salaries between £15,000 and just under £24,000, while their male counterparts are more likely to be paid more than £24,000.
The biggest gap is seen among lawyers, with women generally taking home around £20,000 – around £8,000 less than men, research found.
Women were also found to be under-represented in good-quality apprenticeships, but make up most of the workforce in low-paid jobs.
Laura Carstensen, an EHRC commissioner, said: “In today’s world women should not face these kinds of injustices, especially when data shows time after time girls and women are outperforming males at every stage in education.
“45 years after the Equal Pay Act was brought in to herald an end to gender pay inequality, our research provides clear evidence that the old economic and societal barriers are still prevalent for working women and overshadowing the prospects of our girls and young women yet to enter the workplace.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “We share the EHRC’s concerns, which is precisely why eliminating the gender pay gap is a key priority for this government.
“While we have made good progress, this Government is going further than ever before to close the gap once and for all – including plans to force all larger employers to publish gender pay gap information.”
These findings contradict data from the Office for National Statistics which suggests that for workers aged 22 to 29 years the gender pay gap is actually negative with women earning 0.8% more than their male counterparts.
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