Gender and the Balance of Parenting and Professional Life among Gynecology Subspecialists
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Authors
Hill, Emily K.Stuckey, Ashley
Fiascone, Stephen
Raker, Christina
Clark, Melissa A.
Brown, Amy
Gordinier, Mary
Robison, Katina
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Quantitative Health SciencesDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2018-10-30Keywords
Gender differencesGynecologic surgical subspecialties
Parenting
Work–life balance
Work–life integration
Gender and Sexuality
Health Services Research
Obstetrics and Gynecology
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Show full item recordAbstract
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the parenting and career patterns of female and male gynecology subspecialists. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study (Canadian Task Force classification II-3). SETTING: Survey administered electronically in February 2015 to physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the American Urogynecologic Society. PARTICIPANTS: All physician members of the 3 national gynecology subspecialty organizations listed above. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: There were 75 questions in 4 domains: demographics, mentoring issues, work-life balance, and caregiving responsibilities. Data were analyzed for survey sampling weights. Six hundred seventy-seven physicians completed the survey, 62% of whom were women (n=420; 20.2% response rate). Sixty-four percent were aged 36 to 55 years. Eighty-two percent of respondents had at least 1 child, and men had more children than women (42% of men had 3 or more children compared with 20% of women, p < .0001). Thirty-seven percent of women reported that career plans affected the decision to become a parent somewhat or very much compared with 23% of men (p=.0006). Eighty-three percent of women believed career affected the timing of becoming a parent somewhat or very much compared with 48% of men (p < .0001). In addition, 76% of female physicians perceived that having children decreased their academic productivity compared with 54% of male physicians (p < .0001). Most men and women believed having children had no effect or increased their clinical performance (76% and 65%, respectively), but this was significantly lower in women (p=.01). CONCLUSION: Female gynecology subspecialists perceive that their career impacted decisions on parenting more frequently than their male counterparts. They were also more likely than men to report that having children had a negative impact on academic and, to a lesser extent, clinical performance. Increased support for combining childbirth and parenting with training and academic careers is needed.Source
J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2018 Oct 30. pii: S1553-4650(18)31341-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2018.10.020. [Epub ahead of print] Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1016/j.jmig.2018.10.020Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/46777PubMed ID
30389582Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.jmig.2018.10.020