The role of gender in MPH graduates' salaries

Several studies have demonstrated that workforce roles and salaries differ substantially between men and women in administrative positions within the health care industry. Recent studies of graduates with masters of business administration (MBA) and masters of health administration (MHA) degrees have indicated that women tend to experience lower salaries, given like responsibilities. However, the impact of gender on salary has been less studied among masters of public health (MPH) graduates in the health care field. Our objective was to assess the impact of gender on salary among MPH degree graduates. Using a cross-sectional survey of all graduates from the MPH program at Yale University between 1991-1997 (n = 201, response rate = 51%), we ascertained graduates' reported salary in the first job post-graduation and reported salary in their current position. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the unadjusted and adjusted associations between gender and salary. Salaries in both the first job post-graduation and in the current job differed significantly by gender, with women earning less than men (p-values < .05). Moreover, these differences persisted after controlling for a set of human capital measures including pre-MPH work experience, age at graduation, years since graduation, area of specialization within the MPH degree, and type of work site (governmental or nonprofit versus for-profit). Unlike studies of MBA and MHA graduates, however, this study did not find evidence that the gender-related salary gap widened as the years since graduation increased, although the sample size did not allow comprehensive testing of this trend.