That is the verdict of a new report which also found job growth has not kept pace with the growing number of university graduates, especially in the science sector.
The Grattan Institute's Mapping Australian higher education 2018 report shows the graduate gender pay gap is narrowing a little but remains large.
Female university graduates are now projected to earn 27 per cent less than men over their careers.
The gap was 30 per cent a decade ago.
Early-career female graduates from 2016 earned about 4 per cent more than those in 2006.
