“Here is evidence that women may be doing a modestly better job than men in terms of outcomes,” Dr. Jena said. “If we are in the business of underpaying and underrewarding females, we are disincentivizing female physicians from entering the field, and in certain specialties female physicians see better patient outcomes.”
Dr. Arora and Dr. Farnan are optimistic that as more studies like those by Dr. Jena and colleagues are published – utilizing large data sets never before available, which account for many of the factors that have been used to justify pay and leadership disparities in the past – times will change for the better.
“There comes a time when everyone realizes a group has been wronged and it’s time to right it. I think now is the time for women. It’s tragic it’s come so late but I’m glad it’s here,” Dr. Arora said. “A lot of work is being done on the ground and in institutions to promote women leaders, to include women in search committees, and improve pay. These are always difficult discussions but now we can have transparency in salaries and we can we discuss them.”
However, Dr. Arora is also concerned about blowback, particularly as issues of sexual harassment of women in the workplace finally emerge from the shadows. “The blowback may be that more people tiptoe around women and are more cautious around them,” she said. “This could end up hurting women in the workplace. Something so deeply cemented like this doesn’t die easily and I think it requires culture change. I do think we’re on that journey and starting to see things change.”
But the real measure of that, said Dr. Farnan, is when these conversations are no longer taking place.
“We will know we’ve achieved what we want to achieve when we don’t have to discuss this anymore,” she said. “We will know we’ve achieved parity when we stop talking about it.”
© Frontline Medical Communications 2018-2021. Reprinted with permission, all rights reserved.