New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that gender income inequality exists between women and men academic physician researchers even after adjusting for differences in specialty, work hours, academic rank and other factors.
Reshma Jagsi, MD, an associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, and several colleagues found that the average physician researcher salary was $167,669 for women and $200,433 for men after adjusting for productivity — a difference of 16.3 percent.
The study included 247 female and 553 male physician researchers who received National Institutes of Health career development awards. After also adjusting for specialty, academic rank, publications, research time and leadership positions, men still came out on top by more than $13,000. The authors concluded that the pay difference between men and women physician researchers had little justification.
"Ultimately, this study provides evidence that gender differences in compensation continue to exist in academic medicine, even among a select cohort of physician researchers whose job content is far more similar than in cohorts previously studied and even after controlling extensively for specialization and productivity," Dr. Jagsi said. "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 through the passage of time alone and are difficult to justify."
Reshma Jagsi, MD, an associate professor of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, and several colleagues found that the average physician researcher salary was $167,669 for women and $200,433 for men after adjusting for productivity — a difference of 16.3 percent.
The study included 247 female and 553 male physician researchers who received National Institutes of Health career development awards. After also adjusting for specialty, academic rank, publications, research time and leadership positions, men still came out on top by more than $13,000. The authors concluded that the pay difference between men and women physician researchers had little justification.
"Ultimately, this study provides evidence that gender differences in compensation continue to exist in academic medicine, even among a select cohort of physician researchers whose job content is far more similar than in cohorts previously studied and even after controlling extensively for specialization and productivity," Dr. Jagsi said. "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 through the passage of time alone and are difficult to justify."
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