uniselectImage
uniselectLogo

The shortcut to your shortlist

Make your university search faster and less stressful.
Get a personalised shortlist by selecting what matters to you.

GET STARTED
Career prospects

Graduate gender pay gap

A gender pay gap still exists, even in graduate jobs. See the table below to discover how much male and female graduates get paid in each subject area.

The concept of gender pay gap. A miniature man and a miniature woman sitting on top of a pile of coins at different heights in front of a bar graph.

Below you can see the mid-point of salaries earned in each subject group by male and female graduates from 2019–20, and what the salary difference is between them. We’ve only included subjects where salary data is available for both genders

Colours have been used to highlight salary differences. Green shows subjects where women earned more than men, while blue shows where women were at a financial disadvantage.You can also click on the subject name for a guide to studying each subject area. 

Subject Female Median Salary Male Median Salary Difference
Accounting & Finance £24,000 £24,000 £0
Acting £18,500 £17,500 £1,000
Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering £28,500 £27,500 £1,000
African & Middle Eastern Studies £27,000 £25,000 £2,000
Agriculture & Forestry £21,000 £25,000 -£4,000
American Studies £21,000 £23,000 -£2,000
Animation £20,000 £20,000 £0
Anthropology £23,000 £24,000 -£1,000
Archaeology £21,000 £21,000 £0
Architecture £22,000 £22,000 £0
Art & Design £20,100 £22,000 -£1,900
Artificial Intelligence £31,000 £32,000 -£1,000
Asian Studies £23,000 £25,000 -£2,000
Astrophysics £25,000 £27,000 -£2,000
Biological Sciences £24,000 £24,000 £0
Biomedical Sciences £24,000 £25,000 -£1,000
Building £28,000 £27,000 £1,000
Business & Management Studies £24,000 £25,000 -£1,000
Chemical Engineering £30,000 £29,000 £1,000
Chemistry £25,000 £25,000 £0
Childhood & Youth Studies £20,000 £20,000 £0
Chinese £25,000 £28,000 -£3,000
Civil Engineering £28,000 £28,000 £0
Classics £24,000 £24,000 £0
Communication & Media Studies £21,000 £21,000 £0
Complementary Medicine £26,000 £30,000 -£4,000
Computer Science £27,500 £27,500 £0
Counselling, Psychotherapy & Occupational Therapy £25,000 £25,000 £0
Creative Writing £20,000 £20,000 £0
Criminology £21,000 £22,000 -£1,000
Dentistry £39,000 £40,000 -£1,000
Diagnostic Radiography £25,000 £25,000 £0
Dietetics £25,000 £27,000 -£2,000
Drama, Dance & Cinematics £20,000 £20,000 £0
Ecology £21,000 £24,000 -£3,000
Economics £29,500 £29,000 £500
Education £25,000 £25,700 -£700
Electrical & Electronic Engineering £30,000 £29,000 £1,000
English £22,000 £21,000 £1,000
Fashion £20,000 £21,000 -£1,000
Film Making £21,000 £21,000 £0
Food Science £25,000 £25,000 £0
Forensic Science £21,000 £21,000 £0
French £24,000 £25,200 -£1,200
General Engineering £28,000 £30,000 -£2,000
Geography & Environmental Science £24,100 £24,500 -£400
Geology £23,000 £24,000 -£1,000
German £25,700 £26,000 -£300
Health Studies £20,400 £21,700 -£1,300
History £23,500 £23,000 £500
History of Art, Architecture & Design £23,000 £26,000 -£3,000
Hospitality & Catering £21,800 £22,000 -£200
Human Resources Management £23,000 £22,500 £500
Iberian Languages £25,000 £25,000 £0
Information Technology & Systems £25,500 £25,000 £500
Italian £23,000 £25,000 -£2,000
Journalism £21,000 £21,100 -£100
Land & Property Management £25,000 £25,000 £0
Law £21,200 £22,800 -£1,600
Linguistics £22,300 £25,000 -£2,700
Manufacturing & Production Engineering £27,800 £28,000 -£200
Marine Biology £20,000 £20,000 £0
Marketing £23,000 £23,000 £0
Materials Technology £27,500 £28,500 -£1,000
Mathematics £27,500 £28,000 -£500
Mechanical Engineering £28,500 £27,500 £1,000
Medical Technology & Bioengineering £25,000 £25,600 -£600
Medicine £33,000 £35,000 -£2,000
Music £20,600 £20,700 -£100
Neuroscience £25,000 £27,000 -£2,000
Nursing £25,000 £25,000 £0
Nutrition £24,000 £24,000 £0
Optometry, Ophthalmics & Orthoptics £18,000 £18,000 £0
Paramedic Science £25,000 £26,500 -£1,500
Pharmacology & Pharmacy £32,000 £32,000 £0
Philosophy £23,500 £25,000 -£1,500
Photography £20,000 £19,000 £1,000
Physics & Astronomy £28,500 £27,500 £1,000
Physiotherapy £25,000 £25,000 £0
Podiatry £25,000 £25,000 £0
Politics £25,000 £25,000 £0
Prosthetics £24,900 £26,000 -£1,100
Psychology £21,500 £22,000 -£500
Robotics £26,500 £30,000 -£3,500
Russian & East European Languages £26,000 £25,000 £1,000
Social Policy £22,500 £23,000 -£500
Social Work £29,800 £30,000 -£200
Sociology £22,000 £22,000 £0
Spanish £25,000 £25,000 £0
Sports Science £22,000 £21,500 £500
Statistics £28,000 £30,000 -£2,000
Theology & Religious Studies £24,000 £24,000 £0
Therapeutic Radiography £25,000 £25,600 -£600
Tourism, Transport, Travel & Heritage Studies £21,000 £22,100 -£1,100
Town & Country Planning and Landscape Design £24,500 £25,000 -£500
Veterinary Medicine £31,000 £31,000 £0
Youth Work £20,500 £25,000 -£4,500
Zoology £20,000 £20,500 -£500
Average £24,900 £25,500 -£600

Source: HESA 2019–20, published July 2022

These data are based on the latest Graduate Outcomes survey, and use the median salaries of full-time, first degree leavers entering full-time and professional employment in the UK. 

Related articles

Technological Prosthetic Robot Arm is Tested by Two Professional Development Engineers

Study Prosthetics & Orthotics, why & how to study

Prosthetists and orthotists use the latest technology to transform the lives of patients...

24 Mar 2024
Midwife gives newborn baby to a mother to hold

Study Midwifery, why & how to study

Midwives have a key role in public health, aiming to meet the challenges of reducing...

22 Mar 2024
Close-up portrait of a female patient at dentist in the clinic

Study Dentistry, why & how to study

Dentistry is healthcare for the mouth. With great graduate prospects and starting...

21 Mar 2024

Is this page useful?

Yes No

Sorry about that...

HOW CAN WE IMPROVE IT?

SUBMIT

Thanks for your feedback!