The Gateway (University of Alberta)

EDMONTON (CUP) – An annual survey filled out by University of Alberta business graduates has revealed an unexpected shift in salaries – with female employees exceeding their male counterparts.

The voluntary online survey is sent out every August to the school’s bachelor of commerce graduates of the past year. Dale McNeely, director of business career services at U of A, said that this is the first year that the survey found women earned a greater average salary than men.

“It’s always been the other way around, but it’s varied between significant to not very significant,” said McNeely.

The information gathered by the survey each year is used to paint a better picture of how the students fare upon entering the working world.

Despite the change in this year’s results, with women earning an average of $43,077 per year compared to men at $41,214, the survey is only a glimpse at one year of graduates. As such, McNeely is hesitant to speculate about the reasons for what could become a trend in salary gaps.

“[We need] to look at this over the long term. Is there a levelling of the playing field? That’s certainly what we’re hoping for . . . The degree that we’re providing the students here – the training, the academics, the work experience – is really creating equal opportunities for whoever enters the school of business,” he said.

Of the 603 graduates who were contacted, the faculty received 325 responses, or about 54 per cent. The ratio of male to female respondents was close, sitting at 56 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively.

Despite the precarious nature of the economy, McNeely said that the majority of the results were consistent with previous years. Although salaries in general for both genders have seen a slight dip, the U of A graduates were found to be employed by a range of businesses, in everything from multinational corporations to smaller independent businesses.

As for the current female population at U of A’s school of business, McNeely said that he believes that without putting too much stock in the numbers, the news is still good.

“It’s got to give them confidence for the future, that [women] are going to be perceived in the business world as an equal commodity to everyone else.”

Published in Volume 64, Number 12 of The Uniter (November 19, 2009)