Inhalt: "Background: Although the numbers of women in training and in entry-level academic
positions in medicine have increased substantially in recent years, the proportion
of women in senior faculty positions has not changed. We conducted a study to determine
the contributions of background and training, academic productivity, distribution
of work time, institutional support, career attitudes, and family responsibilities
to sex differences in academic rank and salary among faculty members of academic pediatric
departments. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of all salaried physicians
in 126 academic departments of pediatrics in the United States in January 1992. Of
the 6441 questionnaires distributed, 4285 (67 percent) were returned. The sample was
representative of U.S. pediatric faculty members. Multivariate models were used to
relate academic rank and salary to 16 independent variables. Results: Significantly
fewer women than men achieved the rank of associate professor or higher. For both
men and women, higher salaries and ranks were related to greater academic productivity
(more publications and grants), more hours worked, more institutional support of research,
greater overall career satisfaction, and fewer career problems. Less time spent in
teaching and patient care was related to greater academic productivity for both sexes.
Women in the low ranks were less academically productive and spent significantly more
time in teaching and patient care than men in those ranks. Adjustment for all independent
variables eliminated sex differences in academic rank but not in salary. Conclusions:
Lower rates of academic productivity, more time spent in teaching and patient care
and less time spent in research, less institutional support for research, and lower
rates of specialization in highly paid subspecialties contributed to the lower ranks
and salaries of female faculty members in pediatrics." (author's abstract)|