Those with bachelor degrees still make more money than classmates who only have Year 12 certificates, but the university wage advantage has deteriorated over the past decade.

Male university graduates at the start of their careers were earning less in 2016 than they would have a decade ago, according to a new Grattan Institute report tracking post-tertiary incomes.

In 2016, the average early-career salary for a man with a bachelor's degree was  54,348, which was $1,410 less than he would have earned as a graduate in 2006, when he would have commanded  $55,767.

While they still earned more than men who only finished Year 12, the wage gap has narrowed. University graduates earned $14,481 more than high school graduates in 2006, but only $12,754 more in 2016.

Male university graduates are more likely go for jobs that did not require degrees, says The Grattan Institute’s higher education fellow Ittima Cherastidtham.

“They are less likely to work full time and also less likely to work in professional managerial jobs which require a degree,” she said.

The pay gap between female university graduates and high school leavers is also narrowing: in 2006, a woman in the early stages of her career with a bachelor degree made $15,000 more than a women with only a year 12 qualification.

But by 2016,  the gap was less than $14,000.

But there is good news for women. They are earning more than they did in past, narrowing the pay gap between male and female graduates.

In the past decade, women with a bachelor degree have increased their earnings from around $44,000 to around $46,000 over the past decade.

But the gender pay gap is still large. The average university-educated woman earns 27 per cent less than her male counterpart over her career. This amounts to a $750,000 difference over a lifetime.

The pay increase has been fuelled by mothers returning to work and taking advantage of the childcare rebate, Ms Cherastidtham said, but the increase in female wages is slowed by the large numbers of women who work part-time and are less likely to be promoted.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” she said.

Laura Baxter didn’t go into teaching for the money, although she spent nine years studying before she entered the profession.

In fact, the 33-year-old can’t immediately recall how much she earns.

After fumbling through her papers, she finds a tax return that reveals she made $60,000 last year at her four-day-a-week job at a high school.

“It has never been about the money,” she says. “I like working with such a huge range of students. I like the challenge.”

She returned to work last year after taking 10 months of maternity leave following the birth of her son Lincoln.

Working four days a week made it too difficult for her to return to her role as a year level coordinator, but she still loves teaching physical education, Auslan and humanities.

“I thought there would be potential to do year level coordinating but they want someone full-time,” she said.

"Moving up or taking on positions of responsibility takes longer if you are a woman and take time off to start a family."