Work patterns of male and female pharmacists. A longitudinal analysis 1959-1989

A demand for better data about pharmacists as working health professionals led the authors to study the work patterns of 1,146 pharmacists over a 30-year period from 1959 to 1989. Work history data were used to determine gender-specific participation rates as a function of age, years in the work force, and date. Percent full-time (as opposed to part-time) work as a gender-specific function of age was also determined. Participation rates for males and females, widely disparate in the 1960s, have converged and are not significantly different. Graduates of the 1980s, both male and female, are remaining with pharmacy as an occupation at a significantly higher rate than earlier graduates. Percent full-time rates for women pharmacists are significantly lower than those for male pharmacists, although women have registered significant increases in percent full-time work in each decade from the 1960s to the 1980s. An unexpected finding was the overall reduced participation by graduates of the years 1970 to 1979. The findings of the study are helpful in explaining recent controversies about the adequacy of the supply of pharmacists. The form of the data bases constructed for this study could be used as a model for the study of other health professionals.