The earnings gap between men and women continues to grow years after they have graduated, to €125 per week after 10 years.
A report has found that men and women graduates from 2010 earned similar amounts in the first five years after graduation.
However, after 10 years, male graduates earned €1,040 per week compared to €915 for female graduates, a difference of €125 .
The findings were published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in its Higher Education Outcomes – Graduation Years 2010-2019.
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The new publication analyses the destinations of graduates in terms of employment, re-enrolment in education, the industry sectors that graduates work in, and their earnings over time.
It found that more than a quarter of 2019 graduates were in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment for a period in 2020.
Approximately 80 per cent of 2019 graduates were in substantial employment in the first year after graduation, down from 83 per cent of 2018 graduates.
The most popular industry for new graduates in 2019 was professional and scientific activities.
Graduates in 2019 had median earnings of €555 per week in the first year after graduation.
Graduates from information and communication technologies in 2010 had the highest median earnings 10 years after graduation, earning €1,165 per week
Graduates from Dublin City University and University College Dublin in 2010 had the highest median earnings 10 years after graduating, earning €1,140 and €1,115 per week respectively.
Brian Stanley, statistician, said: “Approximately 80 per cent of 2019 graduates were in substantial employment in the first year after graduation with median earnings of €555 per week.
“This compares with 83 per cent of 2018 graduates with median earnings of €530 per week. More than one-quarter of 2019 graduates were in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) for a period in 2020.”
The most popular industry for new graduates in 2019 was professional and scientific activities.
This was followed by wholesale and retail, health and education.
More than half of graduates in employment were working in one of these industries in their first year after graduation.
About 29 per cent of those graduating in 2019 had re-enrolled in higher education the following year, which is up from 26 per cent for the class of 2018.
Kieran Culhane, senior statistician, said: “This report was produced in collaboration with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and is an example of the policy-relevant research projects the CSO is developing as part of the CSO’s leadership role of the Irish Statistical System.
“This project was carried out using a statistical framework known as the Educational Longitudinal Database (ELD) developed by the CSO.
“This framework is produced by matching datasets from the education sector to other public sector datasets which describe graduate outcomes in subsequent years.”
Dr Alan Wall, CEO of HEA, welcomed the report, saying it provides “crucial new insights” into the effect of pandemic restrictions on recent graduates.
“In addition, a ten-year post-graduation longitudinal picture allows us to see further into activities of graduates as they establish their career paths.
“The availability of open data through the PxStat service gives access to a wealth of data which underpins the evidence base on graduate outcomes and complements HEA’s national Graduate Outcomes Survey.”
