Female cardiologists remain underrepresented in the field, and tend to face more work-life challenges than men, according to a new study from the American College of Cardiology.
The study, led by Sandra Lewis, MD, chairwoman of ACC's Women in Cardiology Section, found female cardiologists comprise less than 20 percent of cardiologists who care for adult patients. The study also found female cardiologists may be less likely than their male counterparts to get married and have children, and may be more likely to face challenges related to child care, family leave policies and professional discrimination.
For the study, the ACC looked at results from its 2015 professional life survey — which examined cardiologists' career decisions, family life and satisfaction by gender — and compared data to two previous surveys that were conducted in 1996 and 2006.
Here are eight findings from the study.
1. Of the more than 2,000 cardiologists who completed the 2015 survey, results showed that women make up half of all medical school graduates and nearly half of internal medicine specialists, yet they represent less than one-fifth of adult cardiologists.
2. Additionally, 15 percent of female cardiologists are single, while 5 percent of male cardiologists are single. The ACC said these proportions have not changed significantly since the 1996 survey.
3. Seventy-two percent of female cardiologists report having children in the 2015 survey, up significantly from 63 percent in 1996. That number is still lower than that of their male counterparts, of whom 86 percent report having children in the 2015 survey.
4. According to the survey, men are also more likely to report having a spouse that provides child care at home, at 57 percent as compared to 13 percent among women.
5. Nearly 50 percent of women report needing additional child care for nights and on-call rotations, as compared to a quarter of men.
6. Around one in 10 respondents to the 2015 survey, both men and women, report no official family leave policy at their workplace. The ACC said this proportion is significantly down from rates seen in past surveys and claims more workplaces have adopted such policies.
7. The 2015 survey also addressed career satisfaction. In the 2015 survey, about seven out of eight cardiologists of both genders report overall satisfaction with their careers. The survey also found women are more likely to say their level of professional advancement is lower than their peers.
8. Additionally, the 2015 survey found 63 percent of women have experienced past discrimination, such as receiving a lower salary than their male counterparts or being passed up for promotion. That proportion is significantly down from 71 percent and 69 percent in 1996 and 2006, respectively, according to the ACC. However, it is still substantially higher than the rates reported by men, which remain flat at around 22 percent in all three surveys.
"I'm very concerned that we haven't seen much growth in the number of women in adult cardiology," Dr. Lewis said, according to the ACC. "Twenty years ago, we acknowledged a need to increase the number of women in cardiology, and 10 years ago we saw an increase, but we've hit a wall. We need to understand the barriers to women entering cardiology and work toward breaking down those barriers."
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