Every year the Workforce Gender Equality Agency reports a range of gender equity indicators for organisations in all industries. This includes STEM‑qualified industries.
Gender pay gaps by industry
Compare the gender pay gap in STEM industries, health industries and all industries.
Data insights
In 2022, the gap between women’s and men’s pay in STEM industries was $27,012, or 17%. This was slightly larger than in 2021, when the pay gap was $26,568 (also 17%). In 2016, the gender pay gap for full-time total remuneration (which includes discretionary pay) was 22%, 5 percentage points higher than the 2022 result.
In 2022, 5 STEM industries had a higher dollar pay gap than the average gap for all industries ($26,446). Only 4 STEM industries had a higher pay gap than average in 2021.
The gender pay gap for all industries (which includes STEM, health, and non-STEM industries) also increased from $25,752 in 2021 to $26,446 in 2022. For health industries, the pay gap increased from $19,165 in 2021 to $22,161 in 2022.
In 2022, the STEM industries with the largest percentage gender pay gap for full-time total remuneration were:
- machinery and equipment repair and maintenance (24%)
- architectural, engineering and technical services (23%)
- electricity generation (23%).
Oil and gas extraction had the largest gender pay gap in dollar terms: about $63,000, down from $75,000 in 2021.
About the data
The industries mentioned on this page align with Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC). In the STEM Equity Monitor, industries are defined as STEM industries when more than 50% of people in the industry reported a STEM qualification in the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
This data is from non-public sector organisations with 100 or more employees that reported to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA). The 2020–21 WGEA dataset is slightly smaller compared to recent years due to the impacts of COVID-19, changes to the WGEA reporting platform, and changes to the way corporate group organisations report using the new platform. Data is not available for some industries due to insufficient sample sizes.
Large changes in gender pay gap data between 2020–21 and 2021–22 could be caused by organisations self-reporting their ANZSIC industry to WGEA.
Read more about our methodology and this data.