Irish graduates in their late 20s and early 30s are satisfied with their jobs. They are mainly single with no children, working full time and earning on average about £23,000 a year, according to a new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
However, the report indicates that women earn 18 per cent less than men and have less chance of entering the higher professions. It also says those who emigrate do better than those who stay in the Republic.
In line with this, 52 per cent of graduates said they looked forward to going abroad and the majority said they left for social reasons - for example, to see more of the world or to experience some adventure.
The survey consists of responses from 3,200 people who graduated in 1992 from universities and institutes of technology. The graduates were interviewed in 1992 and again in 1998.
The survey also shows great advances in the level of education generally in the workforce. For example, the ESRI is predicting that 40 per cent of the population will have third-level education by 2011. This compares with 20 per cent in 1991.
The scourge of the 1980s graduates - unemployment - disappeared for most graduates in the 1990s, according to the ESRI, with 94 per cent of male graduates and 90 per cent of females in employment. The remainder were either in education or choosing to work in the home.
The differences between men and women and their positions in the workplace were notable. For example, while more women had postgraduate qualifications, only 24 per cent of them were in the "higher professions" compared to 37 per cent of men. In addition, 35 per cent of women were in the "lower professions" compared to 18 per cent of men.
The differences in wages between men and women were also notable, according to one of the authors of the Irish Graduate Labour Market, Mr Philip O'Connell. For example, the gap is so marked that female postgraduates as a group earn less than males with only a primary degree.
The survey gives some examples of the disparity in salaries. A woman with a primary degree can expect to earn £1,785 gross a month, compared to £2,223 for a man. The authors said the extra hours men tended to work and the types of jobs areas they were concentrated in "partially explained" the gaps.
For example, almost five per cent more men worked 30 hours or more than women according to the survey. The report's co-author, Ms Vanessa Gash, said that many men worked extreme hours and this tended to push up the figures worked by men overall.
In terms of job satisfaction, some 83 per cent were either satisfied or very satisfied with their employment. Those dissatisfied cited working conditions and being over-qualified as the reason.
The survey said 34 per cent of those who graduated emigrated for at least six months at some stage in the six years between 1992 and 1998. Women showed a higher propensity to emigrate than men.
"Among men, the difference in gross earnings between non-emigrants and those living abroad was over 200 per cent," the report states.
Almost 64 per cent of the graduates were single with 35 per cent married or with a partner. More men were single than women. Fewer than 11 per cent of the group had children.