London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Gender pay gap results from women choosing wrong degrees, heavily-criticized British report claims

Gender pay gap results from women choosing wrong degrees, heavily-criticized British report claims

A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) was condemned by Twitter users on Tuesday after it blamed the gender pay gap on women picking the wrong degrees despite female graduates being more likely to gain a better result.

Ahead of the deadline for big UK companies to report their gender pay gaps, the London-based IFS argued that “men and women choose to study very different subjects at university, with men being more likely to study subjects which lead to highly paid jobs,” blaming that on the growing gap in annual earnings.


Social media users were quick to slam the report, claiming that it “feels ludicrous” to suggest women are simply “unequipped to choose the ‘right’ degree,” rather than addressing “the house of issues that discourage women from going into those degrees.”


Despite women being more likely to secure a first class or upper second class degree compared to their male counterparts, they make up just a third of graduates in economics, the subject found to have the highest financial returns. Contrastingly, women are two-thirds of graduates in creative arts, which has the lowest financial returns of any degree.


The gap emerges immediately after graduation, with women earning 5% less than men at aged 25 and up to 25% less by age 30. The report’s claim that degree choice is behind the pay gap was dismissed with one social media user suggesting the difference was due to how “women often get the short straw in a patriarchal system.”


The gender pay gap in the UK in 2019, the last pre-pandemic record, found that women were paid 16% less per hour than men, with the difference in average annual earnings growing to 37%, as women are more likely to be employed in part-time roles.

https://publish.twitter.com/?query=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FjackIynette%2Fstatus%2F1445371317189025793&widget=Tweet


Addressing what can be done to rectify the situation, the IFS conceded that “there is debate on what firms should do,” but urged individuals to “remember that the seeds of the gender pay gap are sown early.” To help encourage future students to pick degrees in line with their career goals, the IFS recommended that more should “be done to educate and inform young people about subject choices” and their “long-lasting effects.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×