Despite more women studying at degree level compared to men in the UK, full time working women are paid less than men in 90% of industries, a report has revealed.
The report called Opportunities and outcomes in education and work: Gender effects found that women in financial and insurance sectors are among the worst affected, with some earning almost 40% less than men.
The report was released by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to examine the impact of gender on a range of education and employment outcomes.
The findings come just a week after Equal Pay Day (9th November) and highlight that there were almost 300,000 women graduates in 2014 compared to 205,000 men.
However, male workers were found to be paid on average 19% more than female counterparts in 18 out of 20 industries surveyed.
Women were found to be earning more than men in transportation and storage in addition to mining and quarrying. The biggest gap in pay was found to present in the finance and insurance industry, followed by electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, with professional, scientific and technical activities closely behind.
Dr Vicki Belt, Assistant Director of UKCES said: “This research brings home the bleak reality of gender inequality at work in the UK. In spite of women’s real achievements in education, the gender pay gap stubbornly remains.
“Our research shows that occupational segregation is a key factor at play here. Women are under-represented in a range of sectors and occupations that offer higher paying roles – for example fewer than 10% of British engineers are female.”
Belt said it is welcoming to see the government trying to bring more transparency throughout businesses by introducing a requirement for the public sector and larger firms to publish information on gender pay differences.
“However, there is clearly more that could be done by employers, education providers and careers advisers to create more and better opportunities for women and tackle patterns of occupational segregation,” she added.
