The Equal Opportunities Commission has launched a campaign encouraging
female students to ask prospective employers if they can demonstrate that their
pay systems are fair to women.
The joint EOC and National Union of Students campaign, which is called ’15
per cent off’, will be promoted at student unions across the country.
Research by the EOC shows that female graduates earn 15 per cent less than
male graduates by the age of 24 and the gap between men and women’s pay
continues to widen as their careers’ progress.
Julie Mellor, chairwoman of the EOC, said: "When students start asking
questions, employers wanting to recruit the brightest and the best will realise
they need to be able to show that they provide equal pay.
"If students make equal pay a priority when they are looking for jobs,
they will all benefit from working for employers who value their staff and many
women could avoid years of being short-changed at work."
Mellor said the pay gap means women find it much harder to pay-off student
debt.
An EOC survey reveals that 29 per cent of women believe that there would be
a difference in promotional prospects between the sexes, compared with 18 per
cent of men.
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Four out of 10 respondents from both sexes believe that male graduates would
be paid more than female graduates when entering employment at the same level.
