Fewer young women are applying for grad jobs, says new research

Young women are under-represented in top graduate schemes, despite outnumbering and outperforming men at university, says a new study.

The research was carried out by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), who explain the gender disparity is because: “Many women don’t apply for the top schemes when they should.” But there is a silver lining – the study also showed female applicants were more likely to be hired and performed better than men.

According to an analysis published today, 48.9 per cent of the people in grad jobs were female, while a uni population is 53.8 per cent women. The number of women hired last year dropped to 42.2 per cent among companies who gave two year figures.

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Women only made up one quarter of grads working in engineering and technology, while just one in seven students are women on computer or engineering degrees. AGR are urging employers to counteract negative stereotypes in certain fields that could discourage women grads, like the perception that engineering is for “old, white males.”

The report found graduate employers are making an effort to increase the number of women they hire, with three quarters having a diversity strategy in place. In one year, construction and engineering firms increased the share of female hires by three per cent and four per cent.

AGR chief Stephen Isherwood said: “Graduate employers want to hire women, there are lots of opportunities out there and these candidates are more likely to succeed, so we need to address why they’re not applying. Industry-wide collaboration to tackle student perceptions will be a key step forward.