Gender Differences in Earnings of Early- and Midcareer Pediatricians

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The US physician workforce includes an increasing number of women, with pediatrics having the highest percentage. In recent research on physicians, it is indicated that men earn more than women. It is unclear how this finding extends to pediatricians. METHODS: We examined cross-sectional 2016 data on earnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study, a longitudinal study of early-and midcareer pediatricians. To estimate adjusted differences in pediatrician earnings between men and women, we conducted 4 ordinary least squares regression models. Model 1 examined gender, unadjusted; model 2 controlled for labor force characteristics; model 3 controlled for both labor force and physician-specific job characteristics; and model 4 controlled for labor force, physician-specific job, and work-family characteristics. RESULTS: Sixty-seven percent of Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study participants completed the 2016 surveys (1213 out of 1801). The analytic sample was restricted to participants who completed training and worked in general pediatrics, hospitalist care, or subspecialty care (n = 998). Overall pediatrician-reported mean annual income was $189 804. Before any adjustment, women earned ∼76% of what men earned, or ∼$51 000 less. Adjusting for common labor force characteristics such as demographics, work hours, and specialty, women earned ∼87% of what men earned, or ∼$26 000 less. Adjusting for a comprehensive set of labor force, physician-specific job, and work-family characteristics, women earned ∼94% of what men earned, or ∼$8000 less. CONCLUSIONS: Early-to midcareer female pediatricians earned less than male pediatricians. This difference persisted after adjustment for important labor force, physician-specific job, and work-family characteristics. In future work, researchers should use longitudinal analyses and further explore family obligations and choices. WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: In research among physicians, it is indicated that women earn less than men, even when adjusting for personal and professional characteristics. General pediatricians are often grouped with pediatric subspecialists, and there has not been a recent national study in which researchers have focused solely on pediatrician earnings.

Women in Pediatrics: Progress, Barriers, and Opportunities for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

“…49 National studies and surveys, however, consistently report pay gaps for women in pediatrics even after adjusting for confounding variables. 6,50,51,[53][54][55][56][57] For example, Medscape and Doximity ranked pediatrics among the lowestcompensated medical specialties,…”

“…25,29,59 To better understand the effects of pay disparities, we calculated the potential investment yield from the gaps found in 2 compensation studies demonstrating genderrelated disparities in pediatrics even after accounting for confounding variables. Jena et al 51 reported the annual gender-related pediatric compensation gap was ∼$24 500, whereas Frintner et al 54 more recently found the gap to be $8000.…”

Ensuring Equity in Compensation and Career Advancement for Female Physicians

“…Even those specialties in which women predominate (ie, pediatrics and family practice) are not protected from salary disparities. 4,5 Salary data from 998 pediatricians (27.5% men, 72.5% women) who worked in general pediatrics, hospitalist care, or subspecialty care showed that women earned 76% of what men earned ($51,000 average annual shortfall), before adjustment for labor force characteristics such as demographics, work hours, and subspecialty. After adjustment, women earned 87% to 94% of what men earned ($8,000 to $26,000 annual shortfall).…”

“…After adjustment, women earned 87% to 94% of what men earned ($8,000 to $26,000 annual shortfall). 4 Other approaches to address the potential for gender-based wage gaps include structured compensation models based on rank and time-in-rank in a given subspecialty. A compensation model developed by the Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (710 full-time faculty, 47% women) in 2015 is not based on individual productivity (eg, relative value units) but rather is tied directly to nationwide standards of compensation from the Association of Academic Administrators in Pediatrics (AAAP), which tabulates annual salary data from approximately 100 academic pediatric departments and provides both national and regional data at the 25 th , 50 th , and 75 th percentiles by rank (instructors, assistant professors, associate professors, and professors) in each subspecialty.…”

Collective Action and Effective Dialogue to Address Gender Bias in Medicine

“…5 Furthermore, gender or maternal bias negatively affects individuals in medicine in regards to future employment, career advancement, and compensation. [6][7][8][9][10][11] Given these implications, we celebrate the removal of the practice interruptions criterion as it was unintentionally biased against women. Eligibility criteria that considered practice interruptions would have disproportionately affected women due to leaves related to pregnancy and due to discrepancies in the length of parental leave for mothers versus fathers.…”