New graduates’ salary difference varies by education
At IDA, we analyse the gender pay gap every year. As we have seen before, there are some differences that can be explained but also inequality that is difficult to attribute to anything other than gender.
Women are paid less than men
This is the conclusion of an analysis from IDA, which shows that the “corrected” wage difference in 2023 is 4.3 per cent. This means that privately employed women receive a salary that is 4,3 per cent less than the salary men receive, even when corrections are made for factors such as graduate age, education, industry, position, working hours, etc.
Large fluctuations across education
If we divide the analysis up by educations, as a recent graduate you should know that there are large variations in the salary difference depending on the education. The analysis covers all IDA’s member groups and shows that men receive the highest starting salary regardless of whether they come from a science programme (Other Education), MSc, BSc, export or civil engineer.
For privately employed IDA members, the difference in starting salaries varies depending on education level. The average difference between the starting salary for newly graduated women and men is DKK 1,020. The difference is greatest in the men’s favor among the newly graduated IT graduates and IT candidates, where the men receive an average starting salary that is DKK 3,765 higher than the women’s. Among civil engineers, there is an average difference in the starting salary of DKK 1,054.
The analysis shows that when all these factors are taken into account, there is still a difference between men’s and women’s salaries, and that women’s salaries over the course of their working life amount to 95.7 per cent of the men´s, corresponding to a adjusted salary difference of 4.3 per cent between men and women.
Initial pay gap grows over the years
The bigger the pay gap you start with, the bigger the difference can grow over the course of a long working life. Many workplaces work with salary steps and joint salary increases in percentages, so a salary gap will also mean relatively smaller salary increases in monetary terms.
At the same time, it is often on the way into a job that you have the greatest opportunity to influence your salary. You can read much more about how to negotiate salary for your first job on our salary topic for new graduates and salary, where IDA’s career advisers gather their advice on the subject.
