Spotlight for Career Services Professionals, May 11, 2011
Spotlight for Recruiting and Employment Professionals, May 11, 2011
Female new college graduates earn less than their male counterparts, according to an article published in the NACE Journal.
In “Gender and College Recruiting,” appearing in the April 2011 issue of the NACE Journal, Ed Koc, NACE director of research, reports that the average starting salary to a Class of 2010 new female college graduate at the bachelor’s degree level was $36,451—17 percent lower than the $44,159 her male counterpart averaged.
The discrepancy can’t be explained as the result of males choosing majors that lead to higher-paying jobs. Even when salary is adjusted by major, men come out ahead in most cases. A noticeable exception: engineering. (See figure below.)
“Engineering is explained by the fact that the discipline has such a small percentage of women graduates [18 percent] that the women who do graduate from this field are highly sought after ‘commodities’ and command a premium price for their service,” according to Koc.
Interestingly, being a rarity isn’t a guarantee of a higher salary. In fact, women earning degrees in computer science are also scarce—accounting for approximately 18 percent of the degrees conferred—but averaged $52,531, while men earned $56,227.
In addition, the data indicate a relationship between lower pay and fields that are predominantly female. Even when they dominate a field, women tend to earn less than men holding the same degree. In education, for example, where they account for nearly 80 percent of graduates, women averaged $29,092, while men averaged $39,849.
Read the full story at www.naceweb.org/gender/. (Note: This article is open to nonmembers until the end of May.)
