Female doc-researchers have lower salaries: study

Female physician researchers have lower salaries than their male counterparts, even when statistics are adjusted for specialty, academic rank, leadership positions, publications and research time, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In 2009 and 2010, Dr. Reshma Jagsi, associated professor in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor's radiation oncology department, and colleagues mailed surveys to the 1,729 recipients of National Institutes of Health career development awards between 2000 and 2003 whose addresses were available. They received 1,233 completed surveys, but the report was limited to the 800 physicians (553 men and 247 women) who were still affiliated with academic institutions and reported their current annual salary.

For the men, the overall average salary was $200,433 or some 16.3% higher than the women, whose average salary was $167,669.

Salaries were grouped into four categories: low paying, below $175,000; moderate paying, $175,000 to $225,000; high paying, $226,000 to $300,000; and extremely high paying, more than $300,000.

More women were in the lowest category, 34% compared to 22% of the men; and fewer were in the highest, 3% compared to 11% of the men. According to the report, women were less likely to hold leadership posts, 10% compared to 16% for the men; had fewer publications, 27 vs. 33; and worked shorter hours, an average of 58 per week compared to 63.

Nevertheless, when adjusted for specialty, academic rank, leadership position, publications and research time, the report said salaries for women were still $12,194 lower.

The researchers said they focused on a “relatively homogeneous cohort” with similar aptitude, motivation and seniority, but noted that it was “possible that men and women in our sample did have different values or made different choices” or that the “men prioritized compensation more than women did.”

The study also noted that parenting was not a factor as women without children still had lower salaries. Cumulatively, the authors wrote that a female physician researcher could expect to make $350,000 less than their male counterparts over the course of a 30-year career.

“Ultimately, this study provides evidence that gender differences in compensation continue to exist in academic medicine,” the authors concluded. “Efforts to investigate the mechanisms by which these gender differences develop and ways to mitigate their effects merit continued attention, as these differences have not been eliminated though the passage of time alone and are difficult to justify.”

The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson foundation Physician Faculty Scholars Program and the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research.