The gender wage gap widens with age or work experience.
Despite making up nearly 90% of the workforce in the healthcare industry, female nurses were still faced with a pay gap of between 4% to 13% when compared with their male counterparts.
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) found that a gender pay gap of 4% existed at the six-month mark, widening to 13% at the three-year mark, despite the fact that wages and conditions of work for Australian nurses were controlled through an enterprise agreement made under the Fair Work Act.
"In this study, men at three years earned $39.50 per hour compared to women who earned $38 per hour," ECU Research Fellow Dr Gemma Doleman said.
The findings show men could be receiving penalty payments associated with working weekends and non-sociable hours, with women partaking in Dr Doleman's study working on average 32 hours a week, compared to the men, who worked 36 hours a week.
Dr Doleman's research also found that the gender wage gap widens with age or work experience, with female nurses aged over 26 years experiencing a wage gap of 5% and 16% at the six-month and three-year mark, respectively.
Nurses in the public sector are likely to receive higher remuneration than those working in the private or not-for-profit sector.
Furthermore, research has found that men were being promoted more quickly following graduation and that there was a disproportionate number of men sitting in executive roles within the healthcare institutions.
"Research on nursing career trajectories suggests that men experience a faster rate of career progression compared to women and are over-represented in senior positions in comparison to the proportion of men in the workforce. In addition, the cohort of men had an average age of 35 years in this study, which may also suggest that they have undertaken previous study and work that resulted in them reporting being overqualified more than women upon graduation," Dr Doleman said.
Addressing a shortfall
The Australian government has projected a shortfall of around 70,000 nurses by 2035.
Dr Doleman said that in order to address this demand and given Australia's adherence to traditional gender role ideologies where men are considered to be the major 'breadwinners', healthcare institutions should consider alternative working arrangements for female nurses.
"There are a range of flexible work environments that can be considered, including alternative shifts away from the traditional 8 to 12 hours, shorter shifts, or job sharing could offer more opportunities.
"The introduction of new roles in telehealth, which offers nurses the possibility of remote working, or using experienced nurses to on-board new graduates at family friendly times can also be used to support the workforce," she said.
"Nurses may not enter the workforce anticipating large salaries, but they do wish to be paid appropriately, and research has long shown a strong association between pay rates, job satisfaction and retention of nurses within the workforce."
