Graduate premium for women, but is it high enough?

 

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on earnings differentials between graduate and non-graduate women suggests that there is a significant graduate premium, with female graduates, 10 years after they graduate, having median earnings up to 3 times greater than the median earnings of non-graduate females. The analysis used big data (260,000 graduates), so is one of the most extensive of its kind. Despite the higher earnings by female graduates they still tended to earn less than male graduates who had been graduated for 10 years. Male graduates earned about 23% more than female graduates 10 years after graduation, so still a significant gap despite the supposed equality of higher education.  At the upper end of the pay scale the differences are even starker with 10% of male graduates earning over £55,000 (the equivalent statistic for female graduates is £43,000, a difference of £12,000), 5% of male graduates earning over £73,000 (the equivalent for female graduates is  £54,000, a difference of £19,000) and 1% of male graduates earning over £148,00 (the equivalent for female graduates is £89,000, a difference of £49,000). So inequality seems to grow as pay does!