High prevalence of job dissatisfaction among female physicians: Work-family conflict as a potential stressor

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the traditional, family-centric nature of the Hungarian society as well as to the high proportion of women in the medical profession, more female than male physicians may experience work-family conflict. The authors hypothesized that work-family conflict may reduce job satisfaction, an indicator of physician well-being, among female physicians. However, there is limited information about the prevalence of work-family conflict and job dissatisfaction as well as their associations among female physicians. Aims: To explore the prevalence of work-family conflict and its relations to job dissatisfaction among Hungarian physicians. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 219 female and 201 male physicians using self-report questionnaires. Results: As hypothesized, female physicians reported significantly higher level of work-family conflict compared to male physician (3.0 (SD 0.9) vs. 2.6 (SD 0.9); t(df): −3.8 (418); p<.001). Furthermore, significantly more female than male physicians experienced work-family conflict often or extremely often (56% vs. 41%, respectively; χ2(df)=9.3 (1); p<.01). Significantly fewer female (55%) than male physicians (66%) reported high levels of job satisfaction (χ2(df)= 4.8 (1), p<.05). Similarly, significantly more female physicians (13%) experienced high level of job dissatisfaction compared to men (6%) (χ2(df)= 4.7 (1), p<.05). Linear regression analyses showed that work-family conflict predicts job dissatisfaction among female and all physicians (β= −0.17, 95% CI −0.31–−0.04 and β= −0.14, 95% CI −0.22–−0.04, respectively). Conclusions: These results show that the level and prevalence of work-family conflict experienced by female physicians in Hungary is significantly higher than that among male physicians. Furthermore, these findings suggest that work-family conflict as a stressor may contribute to the development of job dissatisfaction and hence may adversely impact the well-being of female and male physicians and consequently the quality of patient care.