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Gender Gaps in Income and Productivity of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

From the Department of Economics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences in income, productivity, and practice style between male and female obstetrician–gynecologists between 1990 and 2002.

METHODS: The primary data were the Socioeconomic Surveys of Fellows conducted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The surveys contained complete responses from 3,698 obstetrician–gynecologists. Linear regression analysis was used to investigate gender differences in income, productivity, and practice style.

RESULTS: Female obstetrician–gynecologists were younger, had been in medical practice fewer years, earned lower annual incomes ($196,000 versus $257,000), and exhibited lower productivity. Even when considering only young obstetrician–gynecologists (40 years old or younger), women earned annual incomes that were 23% lower, worked 10% fewer hours, saw 9% fewer patients, and performed 21% fewer procedures. The raw income gap between male and female obstetrician–gynecologists of all ages fell from 31% in 1990 to 19% in 2002, whereas for young obstetrician–gynecologists it remained stable at approximately 19%. However, despite this apparent stability, the nature of the income gap changed: whereas differences in productivity and practice style explained only half of the income gap in the 1990s, by 2002 these factors explained nearly all of the income gap.

CONCLUSION: Between 1990 and 2002, female obstetrician–gynecologists earned lower annual incomes than male obstetrician–gynecologists, even when matched on age. However, by 2002 this income gap was almost entirely explained by gender differences in productivity and practice patterns.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III

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