We are all familiar with the age-old gender divide. It has been the stuff of much research, speculation and public policy.

We've all known for years that sexism exists in the workplace but even now in such enlightened years, it seems that women are still being paid less than their male counterparts.

According to a major new survey published today, women graduates are paid less right from the very start of their careers while men earn £1,000 more than their classmates within three years of graduating from university.

As of the pressures of finding London jobs weren't bad enough, now members of the fairer sex have to contend with salary discrepancies while striving to make their mark in the dog-eat-dog male-dominated corporate world.

The survey of graduates' experiences is the largest one of its kind and was conducted by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) which for the first time tracked 25,000 students three years after they graduated.

The results show that men are much more likely to go straight into high paid jobs after they finish their studies. The findings also indicate that 40 per cent of men are earning more than £25,000 a year compared with 26 per cent of women three years after graduation.

The survey corroborated popular knowledge that many graduates struggle to even get into the job market - not just in London but right across the board.

One in four is not in a full-time job after graduating, although many continue with post-graduate studies and a quarter of those who are working aren't in graduate positions.

Previous research conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission has revealed that a national pay gap is made worse by the tendency of women to drift into part-time roles after having children and work in areas such as childcare and cleaning which pay less.

But according to these figures, taking career breaks or slipping into part-time jobs, do not alone account for the poor salaries that women receive - females are paid badly even in full-time graduate jobs and even before they start to have children, take time out and fall behind in their careers.

According to Catherine Benfield, head of the research project at Hesa: "Women accept that they may take a job below their expectations and work up from there.

"Men would rather be unemployed and searching for that perfect job. Women are more likely to be satisfied with their careers than men, though."

Well I supposed Ms Benfield succinctly summed up my situation. As a young job seeker, I suppose I am holding out for that dream job and I won't settle for anything less.

Perhaps therein lays the difference between men and women. It seems from this report that women are much more likely to go straight into a job after graduating and work their way up the career ladder.

Perhaps that may account for the initial gap in salaries between men and women, but surely, after three years they should be on an equal footing? Well according to today's study, unfortunately not.