[EDUCATION ★]
FEMALE GRADUATES FIND MORE JOBS, MEN GET HIGHER PAY
(P1) Female graduates are more likely to find jobs after they leave university than their male PEERS, but those men who do find work enjoy higher starting salaries, the latest statistics on graduate employment show.
(P2) While nearly three-quarters of women who graduated last summer had found full- or part-time jobs within six months of leaving university, just 71% of men had done the same. Some 8% of male graduates said they were unemployed at the time of the survey, compared with just 6% of women.
(P3) But the survey found that men were more likely to be employed in professional jobs and on average received higher starting salaries: £21,000 for men, compared with £20,000 for women.
(P4) The gender pay DISPARITY widened higher up the income scale: while more than 10% of male graduates earned annual salaries of £30,000 to £40,000 in their first jobs, only half the number of women earned the same amount. Nearly four times as many men earned more than £40,000.
(P5) The figures were collected by universities and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, recording responses from 424,000 students who graduated from undergraduate and postgraduate courses at British universities in summer 2014.
(P6) The data matches recent research on the PERSISTENT PAY GAP between men and women, even at the very start of their careers as graduates from PRESTIGIOUS universities.
(P7) A study that surveyed London School of Economics graduates over five years, found that men gaining a first class degree received 6% higher wages – worth nearly £2,000 a year – while women with firsts reported no significant gains.
(P8) Overall, the survey showed that the labour market for graduates continued to improve along with the economy. The percentage of 2014 graduates in full-time work was 60%, compared with less than 58% the year before. Slightly fewer undergraduates moved into further study, while just 5% were unemployed six months after graduation, compared with 6% in 2013.
WORDS: 314
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- In your opinion, why do men seem to get a much higher percentage of the highest-paying jobs?
- What progress have women in business made in your country? Are there many women executives and CEOs?
- Women are attending university at higher rates than men in virtually every advanced nation in the world. What effects do you think this will have?
- Do you think that women face more challenges than men in balancing family and career?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Pay gap
