As reported by Becker’s Hospital Review, researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Washington have completed a study concerning the gender wage gap within the health care industry. Published in Health Affairs, the study revealed the gender wage gap remains a major factor for female workers — despite women holding 77% of all jobs in the U.S. health care industry.
The study examined the U.S. health care industry’s gender wage gap across numerous occupational and educational groups from 2003 to 2021, analyzing a variety of control variables that included age, underrepresented minority and immigrant status, marital status, part-time status and distinction of rural or non-urban areas. The findings of the study revealed that the gender pay gap is widest in the U.S. health care industry among physician and other advanced practitioners.
“Within the health care workforce, gender wage gaps in the physician workforce are well established,” the researchers reported. “Male physicians earn higher wages than women physicians across all medical specialties, and medical specialties that are dominated by men pay significantly more as compared with specialties where women are concentrated. A recent estimate is that female physicians earn approximately 25% less than male physicians (>$2 million over their career), and the gap has persisted over decades.”
One of the major factors at play that is having a big effect on the gender wage gap in the U.S. health care industry is occupational segregation.
“Across occupations, occupational segregation—where men and women work in specific occupations—accounts for almost half of the overall gender wage gap,” the researchers reported. “Women-dominated occupations pay less, often much less, than male-dominated occupations, when controlling for education, skill level, work experience, and other factors.”
Another explanation for the gender pay gap comes down to employer preferences.
“Within health care occupations, one explanation of the gender wage gap is the ‘glass escalator,’” the researchers noted. “Many health care occupations—including nursing and direct care occupations like nursing assistants and home health aides—are heavily dominated by women. Research has shown that men in women-dominated occupations have higher wages and are more likely to be promoted compared with their women peers. These patterns likely reflect some preference by employers for masculine traits and a willingness to reward men at a higher rate than women.”
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