Abstract
BackgroundThe profile of the medical profession is changing in regard to feminization, attitudes towards the profession, and the lifestyle aspirations of young physicians. The issues addressed in this study are the careers of female and male physicians seven years after graduation and the impact of parenthood on career development.MethodsData reported originates from the fifth assessment (T5) of the prospective SwissMedCareer Study, beginning in 2001 (T1). At T5 in 2009, 579 residents (81.4% of the initial sample at T1) participated in the questionnaire survey. They were asked about occupational factors, career-related factors including specialty choice and workplace, work-life balance and life satisfaction. The impact of gender and parenthood on the continuous variables was investigated by means of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance; categorical variables were analyzed using Chi-square tests.ResultsFemale physicians, especially those with children, have lower rates of employment and show lower values in terms of career success and career support experiences than male physicians. In addition, parenthood has a negative impact on these career factors. In terms of work-life balance aspired to, female doctors are less career-oriented and are more inclined to consider part-time work or to continue their professional career following a break to bring up a family. Parenthood means less career-orientation and more part-time orientation. As regards life satisfaction, females show higher levels of satisfaction overall, especially where friends, leisure activities, and income are concerned. Compared to their male colleagues, female physicians are less advanced in their specialty qualification, are less prone to choosing prestigious surgical fields, have a mentor less often, more often work at small hospitals or in private practice, aspire less often to senior hospital or academic positions and consider part-time work more often. Any negative impact on career path and advancement is exacerbated by parenthood, especially as far as women are concerned.ConclusionThe results of the present study reflect socially-rooted gender role stereotypes. Taking into account the feminization of medicine, special attention needs to be paid to female physicians, especially those with children. At an early stage of their career, they should be advised to be more proactive in seeking mentoring and career-planning opportunities. If gender equity in terms of career chances is to be achieved, special career-support measures will have to be provided, such as mentoring programs, role models, flexitime and flexible career structures.
Highlights
The profile of the medical profession is changing in regard to feminization, attitudes towards the profession, and the lifestyle aspirations of young physicians
Employment (Table 1) The rate of employment for female physicians is lower than for males; physicians with children have a lower rate of employment than those without children
Within the framework of our prospective SwissMedCareer Survey [13], the present paper reports on data acquired in the fifth questionnaire survey in 2009, seven years after cohort doctors’ graduation from medical school
Summary
The profile of the medical profession is changing in regard to feminization, attitudes towards the profession, and the lifestyle aspirations of young physicians. Looking back over the decades of the last century, it is noticeable that female doctors were often not married or, if they were married, they tended to have fewer children than their male counterparts. If they did have a family, they often did not specialize, cutting back on their professional career or opting for a career break potentially of several years’ duration [4,5]. Gender equity as regards fairness and justice in structuring professional opportunities, i.e. further career steps and prestigious positions, is far from being realized [8,9]: female physicians are still underrepresented in a number of prestigious disciplines and in the higher echelons of academic and hospital medicine [5]. A number of possible obstacles to career goals that may be presumed to act synergistically include domestic responsibilities, absence of flexibility in career structures and lack of role models [3,10]
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