The gender pay gap is perpetuated by teenage girls who want jobs that pay less, a major study has found.

While teenage girls have higher aspirations than boys to attend university, their male counterparts tend to aspire towards professions with bigger salaries, according to research by University College London (UCL)’s Institute for Education.

Professor Lucinda Platt, one of the authors of the study co-author, said that the findings highlight the “importance of recognising the role of both boys’ and girls’ choices in perpetuating labour market inequalities”.

She added that teenagers should be “encouraged and supported to think beyond gender stereotypes” and consider a full range of future career options.

On average, girls thought they had a 71 per cent chance of going to university, and 14 per cent of girls were certain they would go, researchers found.