Female graduates expect to earn up to 14% less than male counterparts

Law graduates have the highest starting salary expectations overall at €38,702, with male graduates expecting €41,758 and female graduates expecting €35,730. Stock picture: Pexels

Female graduates still expect to earn up to 14% less than their male counterparts, with those entering the legal profession experiencing the largest gap in salary expectations.

New research carried out with 10,043 Irish-based third-level students, across seven different disciplines of study, suggests a clear disparity in salary expectations between genders.

Law graduates have the highest starting salary expectations overall at €38,702, with male graduates expecting €41,758 and female graduates expecting €35,730.

Law was also the only discipline to see the gap in gender pay expectations grow year on year, from 14% in 2021 versus 12% in 2020.

Disparities across all disciplines

Disparities can be seen across the salary expectations in all disciplines the study looked at, including business and economics, and natural sciences, both at 8%.

Health and medical graduates recorded a 7% disparity, as did IT graduates. Those graduating in the humanities saw a disparity of 6% in their salary expectations, while engineering graduated expected a 5% disparity.

The second highest starting salary expectations recorded were in engineering, at €38,181. Within this, male graduates expect €39,3446 and female graduates typically expect €37,388 a year.

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The survey was carried out by Universum, part of IrishJobs.ie. It demonstrates a “clear gap” in salary expectations between Irish male and female graduates despite new legislation due to come into effect early next year, according to Steve Ward of Universum.

This continued trend is very concerning – as research continuously tells us, this disparity in salary expectations between male and female graduates only becomes more pronounced as the two genders climb the career ladder and progress through the corporate world.” 

"The new gender pay legislation is a welcome step toward addressing this disparity," he added. 

"However, we would encourage employers to get ahead of this legislation and look at what steps they can take in the near future to ensure they’re part of the solution, and not part of the problem.

"This means reviewing their own internal hiring processes and remuneration data on an ongoing basis and taking a transparent and proactive approach to addressing any emerging disparities, be that gender or otherwise." 

Meanwhile, several universities have secured further Athena SWAN awards for committing to progress gender diversity. The University of Limerick received Ireland's first silver Athena SWAN at its Department of Physics, while NUI Galway, Trinity, and University College Cork each received further awards.