Compensation in academic medicine: progress toward gender equity

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Equity
• Academic Medicine

Background:

• Substantial gender salary gaps persist in academic medicine.
• Existing strategies to address these disparities lack evaluated interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of an identity-conscious intervention on salary equity.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted approach in closing gender pay gaps.

Main Methods:

• Compared adjusted annual salaries for male and female faculty before and after an intervention.
• Analyzed compensation data from a College of Medicine faculty over four fiscal years.
• Identified and addressed salary disparities through departmental discussions and leadership commitment.

Main Results:

• Eight women received an average salary increase of $17,323.
• The ratio of women's to men's adjusted salaries increased from 89.4% to 93.5%.
• Salary disparities became non-significant in basic science departments post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• Gender-based salary inequities can be mitigated through systematic documentation and intervention.
• Leadership commitment is crucial for addressing and resolving compensation disparities.
• This study demonstrates a successful model for achieving salary equity in academic settings.