Women fare better in China

Should you weather the financial storm in Europe and the US or head for a growing economy such as China? Many graduates are now choosing the latter and for women in particular this may well be a smart move, according to data provided in the FT 2012 Masters in Finance Ranking.

A survey of junior managers from the graduating class of 2009, conducted as part of the ranking, shows an average pay gap of $20,200 between men and women in China - with women earning more than men. In both the UK and the US, meanwhile, the female graduates surveyed reported earnings $13,000 lower than their male counterparts.

The figures for China also trump those provided by graduates working in continental Europe, where the salary gap between men and women was smaller than in the US and the UK. But there women still reported salaries that were, on average, $4,500 lower than their male counterparts.

In China women are better understood in the business world, says Wendy Simpson, an MBA graduate from the Australian Graduate School of Management. “I lived in Shanghai for seven years. I learned a lot about deal-making from the Chinese, they just do it so well. Women get more opportunities in China than they do in Australia,” she says. Read the rest of her FT interview here.

All salary data figures were converted to US dollars using purchasing power parity rates. Some 486 junior managers responded to the FT survey.