Salary Differences by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Among Assistant Professors at US Medical Schools

Salary inequities by gender are well documented in medicine, but there is limited understanding of racial and ethnic disparities or how these intersect with gender across clinical specialties.

To determine whether salaries for assistant professors at US medical schools differ by gender, race and ethnicity, and gender-race-ethnicity intersections across clinical specialties.

This cross-sectional study of medical school assistant professor faculty salary data assessed 19 clinical specialties by gender, race and ethnicity, and gender-race-ethnicity intersections. Aggregated data were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges Faculty Salary Report for 2022 to 2023 for assistant professors at 153 US medical schools.

Gender, race and ethnicity, and gender-race-ethnicity.

Median annual salary and salary ratios were calculated for assistant professors across gender, race and ethnicity, and at their intersections for the 2022-2023 academic year. Salary ratios compared women with men, Asian and underrepresented in medicine (URIM) faculty to White faculty, and various gender-race-ethnicity subgroups to White men.

In this cross-sectional study of 45 906 assistant professor faculty members from 19 clinical specialties in 2022 and 2023, there were 23 538 (51%) men and 22 368 (49%) women, with a racial and ethnic composition of 10 294 (27%) Asian, 4543 (12%) URIM, and 23 781 (62%) White. Across all specialties, women (median annual salary, $266 450; salary ratio, $0.81:$1.00) earned less than men (annual median salary, $330 000). Asian (median annual salary, $291 360; salary ratio, $0.97:$1.00) and URIM (median annual salary, $278 010; salary ratio, $0.93:$1.00) physicians were paid less than White physicians (median annual salary, $300 000). Intersectional analyses showed that URIM women were paid the least (median annual salary, $259 570; salary ratio, $0.78:$1.00) compared with White men (median annual salary, $333 800).

This cross-sectional study of assistant professor faculty across 19 clinical specialties found salary disparities, with Asian and URIM, both men and women, receiving lower pay than White men. These findings suggest the need to address salary inequities in academia using an intersectional approach that considers both gender and race and ethnicity.