The highest-paid graduates in Australia have been revealed, with a gap of almost $40,000 between their salary and the lowest-paid graduates.
The analysis comes from the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) survey program, which is funded by the Federal Government’s Department of Education.
Its new report reveals the salaries Australian graduates are being paid four to six months after course completion.
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The highest paying graduates were those who completed a dentistry degree, earning $94,400 on average — exceeding the next highest-paid graduates by almost $10,000 per year.
Graduates who completed their qualifications in medicine had the second-highest average salary at $85,000, though male graduates had an average salary of $90,000 while women had an average salary of $83,300.
Social work graduates came in third with an average salary of $77,300, with no documented difference between male and female graduates.
Engineering and teaching graduates were tied for fourth and fifth spot on the list, both averaging $75,000 per year.
The graduates with the lowest average salaries were those who completed qualifications in pharmacy, creative arts, tourism, hospitality, personal services, sport and recreation and communication.
Pharmacy graduates clocked in with an average salary of $55,500, following by creative arts graduates at $59,500.
Tourism, hospitality, personal services, sport and recreation and communications graduates all averaged an annual salary of $65,000.
Gender disparity
The tourism, hospitality, personal services, sport and recreation industry had the largest gender pay gap for graduates, with female graduates paid $11,400 less on average than men at $60,000 in comparison to the latter’s $71,400 on average.
Graduates of architecture had the second-largest documented gender pay gap, with women earning an average graduate salary of $63,400 while their male counterparts received an average salary of almost $10,000 more at $72,000 — totalling $8600 less.
A gap of $6700 was documented for medicine graduates, while the gap was documented as $5000 in law and paralegal studies graduate salaries.
The overall standard deviation was $8100, though male graduates experienced a standard deviation of $10,000 compared to $8400 for female graduates.
“The gender gap in undergraduate salaries immediately upon graduation can partly be explained by the fact that females are more likely to graduate from study areas which lead to lower levels of remuneration,” the report said.
“However, it is also the case that at the undergraduate level, females earn less overall than their male counterparts within most study areas.”
The top paying graduate industries:
- Dentistry — $94,400
- Medicine — $85,000
- Social work — $77,300
- Engineering — $75,000
- Teacher education — $75,000
- Computing and information systems — $74,400
- Law and paralegal studies — $73,000
- Agriculture and environmental studies — $71,100
- Psychology — $71,000
- Rehabilitation — $71,000
- Health services and support — $70,800
The lowest paying graduate industries:
- Humanities, culture and social sciences — $69,400
- Nursing — $69,400
- Business and management — $69,200
- Science and mathematics — $69,000
- Veterinary science — $67,400
- Architecture and built environment — $66,000
- Communications — $65,000
- Tourism, hospitality, personal services, sport and recreation — $65,000
- Creative arts — $59,500
- Pharmacy — $55,500