Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Why is there a gender gap in physician salaries?

Emily Lu
Physician
February 3, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

Some research studies just contain too many revelations to not share with the world. The Health Affairs study on the pay gap between newly-trained male and female physicians is just such a study, demonstrating conclusively that:

1. The gender gap in physician salaries is not related to specialty choice or work hours. No matter where women are choosing to work (solo practice vs. hospital, city vs. rural), which specialty they choose to work in or how many patient care hours per week they sign up for, women physicians earn less than their male counterparts.  According to the lead author, the authors of this study “honestly tried everything we could to make [the trend] go away, but it wouldn’t.”

 

2. The gender gap has grown nearly five times from 1999 to 2008 from a $3,600 difference to a $16,819 difference. According to the authors, that $3600 difference (which takes into account all the confounding factors noted above) is not statistically significant (p=0.08), but the $16,819 difference is highly statistically significant (p < 0.001). This trend places doctors as the worst profession for women in terms of disparities in pay. Without these adjustments and just looking at a Population Survey from 2007, the New York Times reported that women doctors earn a whopping 40% less than their male colleagues. That is worse than every other profession the Times looked at. Yes, even lawyers. The only professions that come close are finance managers and clinical researchers.

 

3. Women choosing lower-paying primary care specialties have nothing to do with this trend because women have increasingly not been going into primary care specialties. In 1999 (when, remember, women did not have a statistically significant difference in wages from men), women were joining primary care fields at much higher rates than men (49% vs. 33%). In 2008, both women and men are joining primary care specialties at a rate of about 33%. Disregard the problem that this poses for the nation’s primary care shortage for a moment – this demonstrates that our nation’s women, who are becoming an increasingly large part of the health care workforce, are ambitiously seeking higher paying, more demanding specialties and still, are seeing an increased rather than a decreased gap in wages.

The authors claim that they cannot point to discrimination as a reason for this wage gap because:

  • the increase in wage gap from 1999-2008 occurred in primary care specialties (i.e. internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine) and non-primary-care specialties.
  • they find it unlikely that discrimination could have increased so drastically in the ten years studied.
  • they lack sufficient information about the non-financial incentives that may be driving women to lower-paying positions.

That all may be true and clearly, this subject merits more careful and thorough study. However, for all those lady physicians and physicians-to-be out there wondering what to do about this trend, I invite them to watch the TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg on why we have so few women leaders and to think about how many of the factors she names applies to a female physicians.

Emily Lu is a medical student who blogs at Medicine for Change.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

Can posting ER wait times be dangerous to patients?

February 3, 2011 Kevin 10
…
Next

Bioethics and bedside communication in daily patient interaction

February 4, 2011 Kevin 4
…

Tagged as: Primary Care, Specialist

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Can posting ER wait times be dangerous to patients?
Next Post >
Bioethics and bedside communication in daily patient interaction

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Emily Lu

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    The ethics of social media use for the medical profession

    Emily Lu
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Addressing the needs of the disadvantaged in our health system

    Emily Lu
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Are medical students responsible for the primary care shortage?

    Emily Lu

More in Physician

  • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

    Maureen Gibbons, MD
  • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

    Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO
  • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

    Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD
  • International doctors blocked by visa delays as U.S. faces physician shortage

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • How I redesigned my life as a physician without abandoning medicine

    Ben Reinking, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Addressing U.S. vaccine inequities in vulnerable communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing U.S. vaccine inequities in vulnerable communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • Why medicine must stop worshipping burnout and start valuing humanity

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

      Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 29 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • How community paramedicine impacts Indigenous elders

      Noah Weinberg | Conditions
    • Addressing U.S. vaccine inequities in vulnerable communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How to speak the language of leadership to improve doctor wellness [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight

      Marco Benítez | Conditions
  • Recent Posts

    • Addressing U.S. vaccine inequities in vulnerable communities [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why Canada is losing its skilled immigrant doctors

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why doctors are reclaiming control from burnout culture

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

      Gabe Jones, MBA | Tech
    • Why medicine must stop worshipping burnout and start valuing humanity

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why screening for diseases you might have can backfire

      Andy Lazris, MD and Alan Roth, DO | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Why is there a gender gap in physician salaries?
29 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...