Female graduates ‘more likely to get a job – but are less ambitious’

FEMALE graduates are more likely to find a job after graduation because they are less ambitious than their male counterparts, a study has suggested.

A report examining the salaries and careers of 186,000 graduates six months after they left university found 6 per cent of men were unemployed compared to 4 per cent of women.

The Higher Education Policy Institute, which collated the data from the 2016-17 cohort, said that while female graduates were more l i kely to be offered a job once interviewed, it could be because “they are less ambitious in the jobs they apply for”.

The report also suggested it could be because women were “more efficient” in job-seeking.

Meanwhile, male graduates are more focused on their career than female ones and display “confidence, perhaps overconfidence” when applying for jobs.

“Men appear to be more focused on their career search than women: they begin their career planning earlier, during their time at university, make more applications and are less likely to give up once they have begun an application,” the report said.

“Women are more likely to work in part-time employment, both during and immediately after their degree, than men; whereas men are more likely to undertake an internship during their degree, possibly providing them with an advantage when applying for jobs.”

The report also found that Russell Group universities have the highest gender pay gap between male and female graduates, with women earning 17 per cent less than men on average.

For all universities, the report found that the median salaries of men three to five years after they graduated were higher, on average, than those of women five to 10 years post-graduation.

For example, a man receives £28,800 on average five years after he has graduated, while a woman earns £27,400 typically – £1,400 less – 10 years after she has graduated.

The report suggested that the discrepancy was because, for a higher proportion of men, a large salary was the mark of a good job, while women were more likely to look for job security, work-life balance, and a good company culture.