Background: Gender discrimination exists in nursing from the time of graduation, with men having a higher rate of pay and a faster rate of career progression, irrespective of experience and qualifications. In addition, men are shown to have a greater representation in leadership roles compared to the proportion of men in the profession. However, little is known about the impact of experience and perception of underemployment and over-qualification in relation to gender pay disparity.
The aim: To explore gender pay disparity among the Australian nursing workforce and identify reasons for such a gap. (Gender was gathered from a survey that only focused on the traditional binary genders of men and women).
Method: The study used a retrospective, observational survey design of graduate nurses from all Australian universities.
Findings: The gender wage gap was around 4% at six months after graduation, increasing to 13% at three years after graduation, favoring nurses who are men. Men also reported being more overqualified than women upon graduation. Nursing graduates from non-English speaking backgrounds and lower socioeconomic backgrounds had an increased probability of being underemployed.
Conclusion: These findings, despite an enterprise bargaining agreement, are consistent with the gender pay disparity gap in Australia and with international research on this topic. Of note from this study is the notion that men are working unsociable hours and weekends and are, therefore, receiving penalty rates that increase their wages. This notion is also consistent with the current ideology in Australia of men being breadwinners despite changes in gender equality in the country. Considering this, organizations need to offer flexible work environments that will allow women to re-enter the workforce while caring for dependents, including shorter shifts, job sharing and working across multiple areas to allow for flexibility.