Nemeroff Samuel, Gupta Neeru, Miah Pablo
Department of Sociology, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB.
New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT), Fredericton, NB.
Can Pharm J (Ott). 2025 Apr 25;158(4):219-226. doi: 10.1177/17151635251329427. eCollection 2025 Jul-Aug.
Understanding gender disparities in the way women pharmacists experience their careers is essential for robust workforce planning, as the profession has undergone substantial feminization in recent decades. This study aimed to quantify gender-related wage gaps in the Canadian pharmacy workforce as a tracer for progress toward gender equity in the wake of COVID-19.
A national observational study was conducted using gender-disaggregated data among pharmacists from the 2021 population census and integrated income tax records capturing annual professional earnings in 2019 and (pandemic-affected) 2020. Descriptive and multivariate decomposition analyses were used to characterize earnings differentials, with adjustment for several professional, personal, and geographic factors.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of pharmacists aged 25 to 54 were women. Despite similar levels of education, women's earnings averaged 88 cents for every dollar earned by men. A significant gender wage gap was found, with women earning 9.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.8%-13.8%) less than men on average in 2020 after adjustment for other confounders. Much of the gap was explained by the measured predictors, including gendered earnings differentials observed the previous year, but a significant residual (34% of the gap) remained unexplained in the decomposition analysis.
This first nationally representative investigation of wage differentials among Canadian pharmacists found evidence of a persistent gender-related wage gap, one that was only marginally affected by labour disruptions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and which was largely unexplained-an outcome commonly attributed, at least in part, to gender bias and discrimination.
Concerted efforts are needed among multiple stakeholders for achieving women's full economic inclusion in the pharmacy profession.
了解女性药剂师职业经历中的性别差异对于稳健的劳动力规划至关重要，因为近几十年来该职业经历了显著的女性化。本研究旨在量化加拿大药剂师劳动力中与性别相关的工资差距，作为新冠疫情后实现性别平等进展的一个追踪指标。
利用2021年人口普查中按性别分类的药剂师数据以及综合所得税记录进行了一项全国性观察性研究，这些记录涵盖了2019年和（受疫情影响的）2020年的年度职业收入。使用描述性和多变量分解分析来描述收入差异，并对几个专业、个人和地理因素进行了调整。
25至54岁的药剂师中近三分之二（63%）为女性。尽管教育水平相似，但女性收入平均为男性的88美分。发现了显著的性别工资差距，在调整其他混杂因素后，2020年女性平均收入比男性低9.2%（95%置信区间[CI]：4.8%-13.8%）。大部分差距可由所测量的预测因素解释，包括上一年观察到的性别收入差异，但在分解分析中仍有显著的剩余部分（差距的34%）无法解释。
这项对加拿大药剂师工资差异的首次全国代表性调查发现了存在持续的与性别相关工资差距的证据，这种差距仅受到新冠疫情带来的劳动力干扰的轻微影响，且在很大程度上无法解释——这一结果通常至少部分归因于性别偏见和歧视。
多个利益相关者需要共同努力，以实现女性在药剂师职业中的充分经济融入。
