The Gender Pay Gap Among Physicians

You Must Be Kidding

After checking equal pay’s vital signs among early and mid-career pediatricians, a new study reports continued symptoms of gender discrimination. 

At the study’s baseline, mean annual earnings came in at about $213,392 for men and $162,073 for women – which means female pediatricians earn 76 percent of what their male counterparts earn – or $51,000 less.¹ The gap closes a bit after adjusting for factors that can influence income, such as demographics, work hours, and specialty, with women making 87 percent of what men earn, or “only” $26,000 less. Upping adjustment factors to 18, including physician-specific job and work-family characteristics (e.g. Mom missing work to care for her own children), the gap shrank a little more, with women pediatricians earning 94 percent of what men earn, or $8,000 less.

QUESTION: Why is Mom missing work to care for her children a factor that influences income? Should it not be Mom AND Dad caring for their children?

Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study, a program of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), led the study, which included nearly 1,000 peds five to 14 years past residency when surveyed in 2016. The study, titled Gender Differences in Earnings of Early- and Midcareer Pediatricians, was published in AAP’s official journal, Pediatrics, September 2019.²

What’s up Doc?

So why make such a fuss specific to equal pay among pediatricians? Regardless of profession, it’s old news. Well look out world, because there’s some new news, straight from the Association of American Medical Colleges.  

• For the first time in history, women outnumbered men in U.S. medical schools. Put in statistical terms, females represented 50.7 percent of the 21,338 new enrollees in 2017, compared with 49.8 percent in 2016.³

• As of 2017, 63.3 percent of U.S. pediatricians were…wait for it…women! ⁴

It appears that at least among pediatricians, women are in a good place to cure the salary gap.

Resources

1) Frintner, P., Sisk, B., Byrne, B. J., Freed, G. L., Starmer, A. J., & Olson, L. M. (2019, September 10). Gender Differences in Earnings of Early- and Midcareer Pediatricians.

2) Ibid

3) (2017, December 18). More Women Than Men Enrolled in U.S. Medical Schools in 2017.

4) (2018). 2018 Physician Specialty Data Report.