Female graduates in Northern Ireland expect to earn up at least 10 percent less than their male peers, according to new 2019 global talent market research by NIJobs.com in partnership with employer brand specialist, Universum.
The research surveyed 908 graduates across engineering and IT, business and economics and natural sciences, health and medicine drawn from the University of Ulster, Queens University Belfast and St. Mary’s University.
STEM in focus
Engineering and IT, or STEM graduates have the highest starting salary expectations amongst those surveyed, considering £27,442 per annum to be an average appropriate starting salary for their skillset.
Within this, males expect a starting salary of £28,704; meanwhile, females expect £26,180 per annum. This equates to a 10 percent or £2,524 disparity between the two genders.
Business and economics
Male business and economics graduates expect sixteen percent ( £3,817) higher salaries than their female counterparts. Male graduates expect £27,771per annum, versus £23,953 for women.
Graduates of natural sciences and medicine degrees typically enter the jobs market with lower salary expectations than their peers in engineering and IT and business and economics. 2019 graduates in these fields expect an average of £27,674.
Female graduates of natural sciences expect a thirty one percent ( £7,181) lower salary than their male peers, however female graduates in health/medicine buck the trend expecting to earn more than their male peers. Women expect to start in this sector on a salary of £26,400 vs £24,741 for their male counterparts, a different of £1,699.
Key Career Drivers
Looking beyond salary expectations, Universum’s research also reflects the other motivating factors for Northern Irish graduates, including employer reputation, advancement opportunities, people and culture and job descriptions.
Male and female graduates were asked to rank in order of importance the following career goals.
- To have a good work/life balance
- To be in a secure/stable job
- To be intellectually and/or competitively challenged
- To be a leader or manager of people
- To be dedicated to a cause or to feel that I am serving a greater good
- To be a technical or functional expert
- To have an international career
- To be entrepreneurial or creative/innovative
- To be autonomous or independent
When asked to rank the top drivers of career attractiveness, both male and female graduates ranked (1) work/life balance (2) a secure/stable job as their top career goals.
However, the genders diverged with women ranking being dedicated to a cause and/or serving a greater good at (3) while male graduates ranked to be intellectually and/or competitively challenged at this level.
Differences also opened up with men ranking to be a leader or a manger of people at (4) while for women it was of lesser importance, ranking at (7).
Comment
This research comes following Universum’s recent partnership with NIJobs.com, Northern Ireland’s leading recruitment website.
Commenting on the research, Sam McIlveen, General Manager of NIJobs.com said:
“Gender pay disparity has come into particular focus in the last 24 months and despite the increased scrutiny, it is very concerning to see that women are starting their career with lower expectations than their male counterparts.
“Universum’s 2019 research suggests that from day one, males immediately expect a starting salary which is on average ten percent higher than their female peers. It’s of concern to see this divergence in expectations in the STEM sectors which, in particular, has experienced significant resources and energies being invested into attracting more females into careers in IT and engineering.
“Clearly, more work needs to be done to address gender pay disparities. Critical to this is ensuring that female graduates feel educated and empowered to negotiate salaries on a par with their male peers as they embark on the first rung on the career ladder. While this responsibility doesn’t sit with any single entity, we all have a responsibility to ensure that this gap in salary expectations is shrinking, and not growing, when we revisit this data in 12 months.”
Universum is delighted to introduce their successful Employer Branding Academy to Northern Ireland. It’s your opportunity to gain an in-demand skillset and become a certified Employer Branding Expert.