Disparities in starting salaries for female and male academic physicians contribute to their earning potential throughout their career, according to a study published Feb. 18 in JAMA Network Open.
The cross-sectional study examined data on subspecialty-specific mean compensation and educational debt from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Specifically, the study examined 54,479 U.S. academic physicians across 45 subspecialties from July 2019 to June 2020. Researchers estimated starting salary, salary in year 10 of employment, annual salary growth rate, and overall earning potential in the first decade of employment for each gender by subspecialty.
Overall, women had lower starting salaries in 42 of the subspecialties and lower starting salaries in year 10 of employment in 43 of the subspecialties, according to the study. Over the course of the first 10 years of their academic medicine careers, the median earning potential for women in 43 subspecialties was $214,440 — or 10 percent less than their male colleagues.
Additionally, researchers found that women had lower mean annual salary growth rates than men in 22 subspecialties, and that delaying a promotion from assistant to associate professor for one year reduced women's earning potential by a median of $26,042.
The researchers said equalizing starting salaries could boost women's earning potential over the first decade of their career by a median of $250,075 in the subspecialties for which there were gender-based differences in starting salaries.
"Even when annual salary growth rates were similar for women and men in a subspecialty, the differences in starting salary led to a substantial difference in earning potential within the first 10 years of employment," the researchers concluded. "Our results highlight that the issue of unequal compensation between the genders is pervasive and exists within nearly all subspecialties."
The study had several limitations, including lack of data about differences in typical debt repayment practices between men and women, as well as using data solely reflecting practice at academic medical centers.
To view the full study, click here.