Gender parity in gainful employment and other gender trends in the job market for recent pathology graduates

Abstract

Context.—Gender-based barriers to equal salary, career advancement, and leadership still exist in medicine. Herein we provide the first report of data comparing the experiences of men and women seeking their first nonfellowship position in pathology. Objective.—To identify gender trends regarding pathologists taking their first job after training and the relationship to various demographic factors, job search satisfaction, and outcome. Design.—Aggregate data from the College of American Pathologists Graduate Medical Education Committee Job Market surveys (2015–2018) were analyzed across multiple domains including residency focus, number and subspecialty of fellowships completed, and extent to which expectations were met in regard to work duties, geographic preference, benefits, and salary. These data were examined in the context of assessing gender-based differences. Results.—Comparable results were identified in all measured outcomes according to gender. There were no differences between gender and medical school type, relocation, residency training focus, number of fellowships completed, overall satisfaction with position accepted, salary, or extent to which the position met expectations. Similarly, there were also no discrepancies between gender and the geographic region in which positions were accepted, practice setting, practice subspecialty, partnership track, length of job search, or difficulty finding a position. Conclusions.—Analysis from 4 years of job market survey data shows equivalent results between men and women looking for their first nonfellowship position in pathology. There were no significant differences with regard to difficulty finding a position, overall satisfaction with the position accepted, salary, benefits, or access to partnership track.