Two years after graduation from university, female graduates working full-time hours earned 78% of the weekly wages of male graduates. Even after controlling for differences in field of study, occupation, province/country of residence, and number of hours worked per week, the wage gap attributable to gender alone was still 3-10%. This is the key finding of "The Gender Gap in Employment Outcomes of University Graduates" released today by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission under its Trends in Maritime Higher Education series.
"We conducted this analysis to identify the factors contributing to this gap," said Mireille Duguay, Commission CEO. "What we found was that much of this wage gap may be explained by underlying factors such as the different choices men and women make in field of study, which in turn influences occupational choices, and therefore earnings."
Ms Duguay went on to say, "While it's true that, on average, a university education means greater earnings, particularly for women, our analysis nonetheless confirms that, even among university graduates, women still earn less than men," said Mireille Duguay, Commission CEO.
The report also found that, while men and women were equally likely to be employed, women were somewhat less likely to be employed full-time or to have a permanent position. Ms. Duguay went on to explain that, again, field of study played an important role in job status differences. Women are under-represented in some of the more professionally-oriented or applied fields of study, such as Engineering & Applied Sciences and Mathematics & Physical Sciences, and fields such as these are associated with a greater likelihood of full-time and permanent employment.
The article, based on data from the MPHEC's Survey of 1999 Maritime University Graduates in 2001, explored the impact of gender on a set of employment outcomes, including labour force attachment, job status, job quality and earnings among graduates who were at the beginning of their careers – that is, they had completed their first bachelor's degree in 1999 and were employed two years after graduation.
The Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission was established in 1974. Its mission is to assist institutions and governments in enhancing the post-secondary learning environment. MPHEC's 19 members are drawn from the Maritime provinces and represent higher education institutions, provincial governments and the general public.
The article is available online at: www2.mphec.ca/english/pdfs/TrendsV32004E.pdf.
For more information, contact Dawn Gordon, Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission, (506) 453-2844, gordond@mphec.ca