The role of experience, specialty certification, and practice ownership in the gender wage gap for veterinarians in the United States

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To explore the role of various factors in the wage gap between male and female veterinarians in the United States in 2016 and 2017. SAMPLE 2,760 veterinarians across the United States. PROCEDURES Data from the Census of Veterinarians Survey administered by the AVMA Economics Division in 2016 and 2017 were analyzed. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov 2-sample test was used to determine whether a difference existed between male and female income distributions at various levels of experience. Quantile regression was performed separately for male and female respondents to determine the direct effects of individual factors on incomes and compare the effects of practice ownership versus nonownership on income. RESULTS Income distributions of men and women were unequal at lower experience ranges but equal at higher experience ranges. Income increased for men with each additional year of experience and with practice ownership. For women, practice owners in the lowest income quantile had a negative return to income; overall, their income benefited most from ownership in the form of partnerships. For certain groups, incomes of both genders were lower when they had absences from the workforce. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Findings suggested that the largest source of gender income disparity for veterinarians was attributable to female practice owners earning less than their male counterparts. Indeed, women earned more from specialty certifications than from owning a clinic. To decrease income disparities between genders, ways should be identified to support women-owned practices and promote equal pay.

Veterinarian burnout demographics and organizational impacts: a narrative review

“…Despite the rising proportion of women in veterinary medicine over the past decades, similar gender disparities to those described for physicians still exist. Women veterinarians are less likely to be paid equivalently, to be practice owners, to exhibit the same progression through academic ranks as men, or to be in professional leadership positions (89)(90)(91)(92)(93)(94). Among veterinary surgeons, the personal income of men was a mean of 18% greater (95% CI = 12-25; p < 0.001) than that of women (89), and in academia, male veterinary surgeons were more likely than women to be associate or full professors (OR = 2.52, 95% CI = 1.03-6.14, p < 0.042) (90).…”

“…Self-employed veterinarians express stress more frequently but also a better morale than associate veterinarians (107). Associate veterinarians are twice as likely to develop feelings of reduced job satisfaction and are also more likely to experience burnout relative to practice owners (91,114). While both experience stress, veterinary practice owners exhibit far less burnout than non-owner associates (115).…”

“…Indeed, lower burnout scores were identified for veterinarians in higher income categories, beginning at annual salaries of $150,000 (85): for many, this likely reflects alleviation of financial stress relative educational debt as having a higher salary improves the ability to meet monthly loan payments. Relative salary differentials may also be symptomatic of organizational inequities (222), which may be yet another contributor to higher rates of burnout in women than men, given the gender pay gap (89,91). However, for individuals (e.g., house officers) who are at higher risk for burnout as a result of serious financial limitations relative to costs of living, increasing take-home pay is the most obvious, just, and urgent solution (40,56,223).…”

Veterinary professional identity: Conceptual analysis and location in a practice theory framework

“…In spite of the fact that women have contributed at least equally to graduate numbers for around three decades, they continue to be significantly underrepresented in senior and leadership roles ( 66 – 69 ). The presence and extent of a gender pay gap in the veterinary profession has been repeatedly demonstrated, although its existence remains contested ( 51 , 56 , 70 – 73 ). Some deny the existence of a gender-based “gap”, instead framing differences in terms of individual choices over time about working hours, career breaks, and practice ownership ( 70 ).…”

The gender wage gap in the French veterinary labor market

“…In the US, between 1960 and 2009, the percentage of men in universities decreased from 89 to 22.4% ( 9 ). In this new veterinary labor market, there is evidence ( 10 – 12 ) that women earned less than men. This gender wage gap narrowed to 10% (in favor of men) after controlling for various observables in the US in the 1990's ( 13 ).…”