Sewell Marisa, Nobel Tamar, Lynch Kathleen A, Gilliland Jaime, Harrington Caitlin, Boerner Thomas, Mehta Laxmi S, Antonoff Mara B, Kane Lauren, Stein Sharon L, Luc Jessica G Y, Atkinson Thomas M, Molena Daniela
Thoracic Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2025 May;40(7):1646-1654. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-09342-0. Epub 2025 Jan 17.
COVID-19 increased the burden of childcare on parents, leaving women vulnerable to increased disparities in the division of domestic labor. Women healthcare workers may be at heightened risk of worsening gender parity in the workplace as a result.
To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender parity in the division of household responsibilities among women healthcare workers.
Cross-sectional survey assessing changes in the workplace and changes in the balance of domestic duties with partners via multiple open-ended and Likert-scale type questions. Data were analyzed descriptively, including thematic analysis of free-text responses.
This survey study included 1459 women healthcare workers and 244 of their partners.
Primary outcomes were levels of responsibility for domestic labor, including housework, childcare, and child education. Free-text questions focused on the impact of household responsibilities on the workplace.
In total, 1459 healthcare workers identifying as women responded to this survey. Of them, 655 (45%) practice in an academic setting, and 1025 (70%) are physicians. Additionally, 244 self-identifying partners of women healthcare workers responded; the majority were men (204 [84%]), and over one-third (91 [38%]) work in healthcare. Among respondents overall, women reported doing most of the housework (52% of respondents [756/1459] versus 27% of partners [61/244]) and child education, compared with their partners (31% of respondents [451/1459] versus 23% of partners [55/244]). Thematic analysis of free-text questions revealed that women experienced worsened gender parity in the workplace because of increased household responsibilities.
We observed significant gender-based disparities in the division of household labor among healthcare workers, with negative impacts on work performance, focus, and academic productivity. Our results support the notion that the COVID-19 pandemic worsened gender parity in the homes of healthcare workers, thus negatively affecting gender parity in the medical workplace.
新冠疫情增加了父母照顾孩子的负担，使女性更容易面临家庭劳动分工差距加大的问题。因此，女性医护人员在工作场所性别平等状况恶化的风险可能更高。
研究新冠疫情对女性医护人员家庭责任分工中性别平等的影响。
横断面调查，通过多个开放式和李克特量表式问题评估工作场所的变化以及与伴侣分担家务的平衡变化。对数据进行描述性分析，包括对自由文本回复的主题分析。
这项调查研究包括1459名女性医护人员及其244名伴侣。
主要结果是家庭劳动责任水平，包括家务、儿童照料和儿童教育。自由文本问题聚焦于家庭责任对工作场所的影响。
共有1459名自认为是女性的医护人员回复了此项调查。其中，655人（45%）在学术机构工作，1025人（70%）是医生。此外，244名女性医护人员的自认为是伴侣的人进行了回复；大多数是男性（204人[84%]），超过三分之一（91人[38%]）从事医疗工作。在所有受访者中与伴侣相比，女性承担了大部分家务（52%的受访者[756/1459]，而伴侣为27%[61/244]）和儿童教育（31%的受访者[451/1459]，而伴侣为23%[55/244]）。对自由文本问题的主题分析显示，由于家庭责任增加，女性在工作场所的性别平等状况恶化。
我们观察到医护人员在家务分工中存在显著的性别差异，对工作表现、注意力和学术生产力产生负面影响。我们的结果支持这样一种观点，即新冠疫情使医护人员家庭中的性别平等状况恶化，从而对医疗工作场所的性别平等产生负面影响。
