A matter of priorities? Exploring the persistent gender pay gap in hospital medicine

BACKGROUND: Gender earnings disparities among physicians exist even after considering differences in specialty, part-time status, and practice type. Little is known about the role of job satisfaction priorities on earnings differences. OBJECTIVE: To examine gender differences in work characteristics and job satisfaction priorities, and their relationship with gender earnings disparities among hospitalists. DESIGN: Observational cross-sectional survey study. PARTICIPANTS: US hospitalists in 2010. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported income, work characteristics, and priorities among job satisfaction domains. RESULTS: On average, women compared to men hospitalists were younger, less likely to be leaders, worked fewer full-time equivalents, worked more nights, reported fewer daily billable encounters, more were pediatricians, worked in university settings, worked in the Western United States, and were divorced. More hospitalists of both genders prioritized optimal workload among the satisfaction domains. However, substantial pay ranked second in prevalence by men and fourth by women. Women hospitalists earned $14,581 less than their male peers in an analysis adjusting for these differences. CONCLUSIONS: The gender earnings gap persists among hospitalists. A portion of the disparity is explained by the fewer women hospitalists compared to men who prioritize pay.