Gender inequity in medicine and particularly in surgery is well recognized but poorly
understood. Women are significantly less likely than men to achieve high-level academic
promotion, comprise fewer than 5% of upper echelon leadership positions, and are at
higher risk of attrition from academic surgery.
1
,
- Association of American Medical Colleges
The State of Women in Academic Medicine: The Pipeline and Pathways to Leadership,
2015–2016.
Association of American Medical Colleges,
Washington, DC2016
https://www.aamc.org/system/files/reports/1/2015table11.pdf
Date accessed: March 31, 2020
2
,
3
While the drivers of this inequity are multifactorial, explicit and/or unconscious
biases of traits and behaviors that men and women are expected to display form prescriptive
gender norms.
4
These biases are also believed to perpetuate well-known disparities in salary, start-up
packages for new hires, retention packages, and service expectations. Surgical specialties
have the highest adjusted gender-based differences in salary within medicine.
5
A commonly stated belief for this disparity is child-bearing during early practice
years. However, even when such demographic characteristics are adjusted for, an unaccounted
wage gap persists.
6
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References
- The State of Women in Academic Medicine: The Pipeline and Pathways to Leadership, 2015–2016.Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, DC2016 (Available at:)https://www.aamc.org/system/files/reports/1/2015table11.pdfDate accessed: March 31, 2020
Abelson JS, et al. The climb to break the glass ceiling in surgery: trends in women progressing from medical school to surgical training and academic leadership from 1994 to 2015. Am J Surg, Vol. 212, Issue 4, pp.566–572.e1.
- Barriers to careers identified by women in academic surgery: a grounded theory model.Am J Surg. 2019; 218: p780-785
- Perceived gender-based barriers to careers in academic surgery.Am J Surg. 2013; 206: p263-268
- Sex differences in physician salary in US public medical schools.JAMA Internal Medicine. 2016; 176: 1294-1304
- Gender differences in salary in a recent cohort of early-career physician-researchers.Acad Med. 2013; 88: 1689-1699
- Gender and compensation among surgical specialties in the Veterans Health Administration.Am J Surg. 2020;
- Gender disparity in trauma surgery: compensation, practice patterns, personal life, and wellness.J Surg Res. 2020; 250: 179-187
- Inequities in academic compensation by gender: a follow-up to the national faculty survey cohort study.Acad Med. 2016; 91: 1068-1073
- Statement on gender salary equity.(Available at:)https://www.facs.org/about-acs/statements/101-gender-salary-equityDate: 2017Date accessed: March 26, 2020
- Statement on gender salary equity.(Available at:)
- Data resource book 2017-2018.(Available at:)http://www.acgme.org/About-Us/Publications-and-Resources/Graduate-Medical-Education-Data-Resource-BookDate accessed: March 26, 2020
Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 10, 2020
Accepted:
April 1,
2020
Received in revised form:
March 31,
2020
Received:
March 30,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc.
