Study: Female surgeons undervalue future earning potential compared to male counterparts

A recent survey conducted by LA BioMed asked surgical residents to state what an ideal salary would be after completing residency, and researchers found that female surgeons reported expected salaries that were approximately $30,000 less than that reported by their male counterparts. This was in spite of the fact that male and female respondents expected to work the same number of hours and shared equal desires to hold leadership positions and conduct their own research.

Responses indicated that women did not feel as comfortable as men asking for higher salaries. They also were less likely to leverage other job offers in negotiation. The survey was sent by LA BioMed, a nonprofit biomedical research organization, to 607 general surgical residents at 19 residency programs in the United States. Forty-four percent of respondents were female.

If female surgeons were to earn $30,000 less than male surgeons, over the course of a 30-year career, the result would be a $1 million deficit. Researchers at LA BioMed hope hospitals will use these findings to explore gender salary disparities among their surgeons.

Source: Becker’s Hospital Review