Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Sapporo Medical University, S1-W16, Sapporo-shi, Hokkaido, Japan.
Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, 2-1 Naka, Kunitachi-shi, Tokyo, 186-8603, Japan.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Oct 4;24(1):1183. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11622-8.
Female physicians with children often work fewer hours and take fewer shifts due to additional family responsibilities. This can contribute to a gender pay gap in the medical profession. However, limited research in Japan has quantitatively examined the factors contributing to this gap. This study aims to address this gap in the literature.
We analyzed the alumni data from a medical school in Hokkaido, Japan, for 260 physicians (198 males and 62 females). We used multivariable regression models to identify factors influencing earnings from medical practice, with a focus on gender, work schedules, parenthood, and any career interruptions related to childcare.
Our analysis revealed a 25.0% earnings gap between male and female physicians. Nearly all female physicians with children experienced career interruptions due to childcare, while this was uncommon for male physicians. When these childcare-related interruptions were factored in, the gender pay gap narrowed by 9.7%. After adjusting for work schedules and specialty choices, female physicians with children still earned 37.2% less than male physicians, while those without children earned only 4.4% less. This suggests that motherhood is a significant driver of the gender pay gap among physicians.
These findings highlight the negative impact of motherhood on female physicians' earnings. This emphasizes the need for policy measures to mitigate the disadvantages faced by mothers in the medical profession.
有孩子的女医生由于额外的家庭责任，往往工作时间和轮班次数较少。这可能导致医疗行业的性别薪酬差距。然而，日本对这一差距的定量研究有限。本研究旨在弥补这一文献空白。
我们分析了北海道一所医学院的校友数据，其中包括 260 名医生（198 名男性和 62 名女性）。我们使用多变量回归模型来确定影响医疗实践收入的因素，重点关注性别、工作安排、是否为人父母以及与育儿相关的任何职业中断。
我们的分析显示，男女医生的收入差距为 25.0%。几乎所有有孩子的女医生都因育儿而经历过职业中断，而男医生则很少有这种情况。当考虑到这些与育儿相关的中断时，性别薪酬差距缩小了 9.7%。在调整工作安排和专业选择后，有孩子的女医生的收入仍比男医生低 37.2%，而没有孩子的女医生的收入仅低 4.4%。这表明母亲身份是医生群体性别薪酬差距的一个重要驱动因素。
这些发现强调了母亲身份对女医生收入的负面影响。这强调了需要采取政策措施来减轻母亲在医疗行业中面临的不利处境。
