Career Goals, Salary Expectations, and Salary Negotiation Among Male and Female General Surgery Residents
Women in surgery have similar career goals to men. Yet, women expect less, earn less, and represent fewer leadership positions.
Female residents on average anticipate an ideal starting salary of $30,000 less than male residents. Women in this study anticipate working the same hours and retiring at the same age as their male counterparts. Given this, a $30,000 difference translated across a 30-year career amounts to a $900,000 potential difference in lost wages over a lifetime.
Women in Surgery
How to Address:
Increase the number of women in surgical leadership
Make all faculty salaries transparent – provide faculty with accurate salary goals and highlight potential existing disparities to be addressed
Create a standardized compensation plan (result in Hoops et al: significant improvement in female surgery salaries, no change in male salaries, women still earned less
Read the full Journal of the American Medical Association Surgery article here.