Relation of family responsibilities and gender to the productivity and career satisfaction of medical faculty

BACKGROUND: Studies have found that female faculty publish less, have slower career progress, and generally have a more difficult time in academic careers than male faculty. The relation of family (dependent) responsibilities to gender and academic productivity is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To describe dependent responsibilities by gender and to identify their relation to the aspirations, goals, rate of progress, academic productivity, and career satisfaction of male and female medical school faculty. DESIGN: 177-item survey questionnaire. SETTING: 24 randomly selected medical schools in the contiguous United States. PARTICIPANTS: 1979 respondents from a probability sample of full-time academic medical school faculty. MEASUREMENTS: The main end point for measuring academic productivity was the total number of publications in refereed journals. Perceived career progress and career satisfaction were assessed by using Likert scales. RESULTS: For both male and female faculty, more than 90% of time devoted to family responsibilities was spent on child care. Among faculty with children, women had greater obstacles to academic careers and less institutional support, including research funding from their institutions (46% compared with 57%; P < 0.001) and secretarial support (0.68 full-time equivalents compared with 0.83 full-time equivalents; P = 0.003), than men. Compared with men with children, women with children had fewer publications (18.3 compared with 29.3; P < 0.001), slower self-perceived career progress (2.6 compared with 3.1; P < 0.001), and lower career satisfaction (5.9 compared with 6.6; P < 0.001). However, no significant differences between the sexes were seen for faculty without children. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with female faculty without children and compared with men, female faculty with children face major obstacles in academic careers. Some of these obstacles can be easily modified (for example, by eliminating after-hours meetings and creating part-time career tracks). Medical schools should address these obstacles and provide support for faculty with children.     

Publication productivity and career advancement by female and male psychology faculty: The case of Italy.

In the United States, women tend to publish less than men do and to be overrepresented at the lower ranks of academia. This study examined the scientific productivity and career status of female and male psychology faculty in Italian universities. Psychology was selected as a discipline because for decades, it has had a female majority among its doctorates. Italy was the case study country because it has one of the highest representations of women among university faculty. This study's questions were: What is the representation of female psychology academics across faculty and high administration ranks? Is the publication productivity of female psychology academics different from that of their male peers? Finally, what institutional factors are associated with publication productivity among psychology academics? Our study focused on the 511 university psychology professors (250 women and 261 men) listed in 2004 in the Italian Ministry of Education University and Research website. We examined scientific productivity over 7 years, from 1998 to 2004, using PsycINFO. We found that women represented two thirds of assistant professors but only one third of full professors and department chairs. Overall, women published somewhat less (approximately one third less) than men, especially in international journals and as senior authors. However, consistent with prior evidence, when multiple predictors were considered together, both academic rank and institutional setting, but not sex-of-faculty, were associated with publication output. This study confirms prior observations that a strong female doctoral pipeline and scientific productivity are very slow at influencing the underrepresentation of women at the top ranks of academia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experiences of women in cardiothoracic surgery. A gender comparison

OBJECTIVE: To assess the career and practice experiences of cardiothoracic surgeons, with references to gender similarities and differences. DESIGN: Four-step mailed 115-question survey. SUBJECTS: All identified women, and a cohort of men, certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Academic rank, career background, salary, perceptions and experiences of harassment or discrimination, and personal life characteristics. RESULTS: No differences were found in training backgrounds. More men (64%) than women (52%) were in university practices. Comparable proportions of men and women were assistant professors (27%), but more men (27%) than women (13.6%) were full professors. Fifty-eight percent of women and 21% of men reported salaries of less than $250000; 62% of men and 32% of women had incomes over $350000. Career satisfaction was comparable between genders; however, women perceived the promotion process as unfair and unrelated to academic rank. Both genders encouraged men toward a surgical career; men were less likely than women to encourage women to pursue a surgical career (P < .01). Women, much more than men, believed that discrimination hindered their career development (P < .001). Characteristics of personal life were also considerably different between the genders. CONCLUSION: Although practice and training parameters for male and female cardiothoracic surgeons are comparable, work experiences, personal life, and career rewards such as salary and promotion, and perception of discrimination are different.     

Employment and career status of women psychologists.

Examined the employment status of doctoral recipients in psychology from 1960-1970. Data collected by the Office of Scientific Personnel of the National Academy of Sciences, provided the information for these analyses. The career status of academic female psychologists as compared to male psychologists is examined and discussed utilizing national data on faculty collected by the Carnegie Commission of Higher Education and the American Council on Education. This investigation of the career status of academic psychologists clearly documents the relatively low status of academic women in psychology in comparison to their male colleagues. Although it could be argued that the female psychologist's lower rank, lower salary, and lack of tenure are a consequence of merit consideration (e.g., degree held, publications), these analyses suggest strongly that such is not the case. Among new PhDs women have always had a somewhat harder time locating employment than have men, and these sex differences have been increasing in the recently tightening job market. Compared to sex differences in academic rank, salary, and tenure, however, the relative difficulty that the new woman PhD finds in securing initial employment appears to be minor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Salaries and satisfactions of medical school psychologists.

Used data from a 1977 survey to investigate the relationship of salary to professional activities and to vocational satisfactions of 642 medical school psychologists. Results show the following: (1) current and potential salaries correlated with items involving seniority and rank, and with beliefs of appropriate skill utilization and advantages accruing in the setting. (2) Salaries are negatively related to time spent in diagnostic and therapeutic work. (3) Only salary expectations are significantly related to personal satisfactions and comparative occupational freedoms. (4) Vocational interests and career commitments are not closely tied to salaries. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Gender in the Career Aspirations of Professional Psychology Graduates: Are There More Similarities Than Differences?

Although it has been claimed that the increase in the number of females enrolled in graduate programs in professional psychology has implications for the future of research, teaching, and clinical service, more research is needed to evaluate such claims. Canadian graduate students in professional psychology programs were surveyed to examine gender differences in their academic achievements, professional interests, career plans, as well as the reasons for their career choices, expected salaries, and personal opinions regarding affirmative action. Overall, the similarities between genders outweighed the differences. However, women were more likely than men to expect child-rearing to disrupt their careers, to make their career choices based on job flexibility, and to expect lower maximum salaries. Women were also less likely to want to pursue jobs in academia, yet were more likely to advocate for the recruitment of women into academia. The potential implications of the changing gender composition and overall trends in professional psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

1995-1996 SAEM emergency medicine faculty salary/benefits survey

OBJECTIVE: The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) commissioned an emergency medicine (EM) faculty salary and benefit survey for all 1995 Residency Review Committee in Emergency Medicine (RRC-EM)-accredited programs using the SAEM third-generation survey instrument. Responses were collected by SAEM and blinded from the investigators. POPULATION: Seventy-six of 112 (68%) accredited programs responded, yielding data for 1,032 full-time faculty among the four Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) regions. METHODS: Blinded program and individual faculty data were entered into a customized version of Filemaker Pro, a relational database program with a built-in statistical package. Salary data were sorted by 115 separate criteria such as program regions, faculty title, American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) certification, academic rank, years postresidency, program size, and whether data were reported to AAMC. Demographic data from 132 categories were analyzed and included number of staff and residents per shift, number of intensive care unit (ICU) beds, obstacles to hiring new staff, and specific type and value of fringe benefits offered. Data were compared with those from the 1990 and 1992 SAEM and the 1995-96 AAMC studies. RESULTS: Mean salaries were reported as follows: all faculty, $158,100; first-year faculty, $131,074; programs reporting data to AAMC, $152,198; programs not reporting data to AAMC, $169,251. Mean salaries as reported by AAMC region: northeast, $155,909; south, $155,403; midwest, $172,260; west, $139,930. Mean salaries as reported by program financial source: community, $175,599; university, $152,878; municipal, $141,566. CONCLUSIONS: Reported salaries for full-time EM residency faculty continue to rise. Salaries in programs reporting data to the AAMC are considerably lower than those not reporting. The gap between ABEM-certified and non-ABEM-certified faculty continues to widen. Residency-trained faculty are now shown to earn more than non-residency-trained faculty. Significant regional differences in salaries have been present in all three SAEM surveys.     

Academic salaries in psychology.

Summarizes academic salary changes in psychology for varied professorial ranks over a 3-yr period. Data were obtained from questionnaires sent annually to psychology departments with graduate programs, which were returned at an annual rate of 150-200. Median salaries and yearly increases were rated for associate, assistant, and full professors. Results indicate a substantial decline in salary increments in 1971-1972 compared with earlier years, at all ranks, and in most parts of the country. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists in medical schools—professional issues for the future: How are rank and tenure associated with productivity and satisfaction?

The authors surveyed a random sample of 293 psychologists employed as faculty members in medical schools to evaluate professional activities, academic productivity, and work satisfaction. A relatively high response rate (62%) was obtained. Medical school psychologists devoted significant amounts of time to clinical service (30%) and research (34%). Overall satisfaction was relatively high, and participants expressed substantial enthusiasm regarding the future of psychology in medical schools. When differences were examined by tenure track and academic rank, psychologists on the tenure track and full professors displayed the highest levels of productivity and satisfaction. This pattern continued when medical school psychologists ranked their satisfaction in relation to physician colleagues and faculty in university departments of psychology. Results are discussed within the context of the rapidly evolving health care delivery system and the future of psychologists in medical schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived equity of salary policies.

Three systems for distributing yearly salary raises to faculty according to merit were studied to determine which system is judged to be most equitable. In the relative system, persons with equal merit receive equal percentage raises. In the absolute system, persons with equal merit receive equal raises. In the adjustment system, persons who are equally underpaid receive equal raises. In Exp I, 20 faculty and 85 undergraduate judges were asked to assign raises to hypothetical faculty from a fixed raise pool. It was found that the assigned raises were greater for the lower paid of 2 people of equal merit, consistent with the adjustment system. In Exp II, 22 faculty and 103 undergraduate judges examined future salaries produced by the 3 different systems. Both groups judged the raises given by the adjustment system to be the most "equitable, just, and fair" and raises given by the relative system to be the least fair. In Exp III, 20 faculty members judged salary deserved as a function of merit and years of experience. This deservingness function was used to develop a specific policy for a particular situation in which raises are proportional to the deviations between actual salary and salary deserved. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Doctoral student experiences in gender-balanced and male-dominated graduate programs.

Similarities and differences were examined in graduate school experiences of male and female doctoral students in programs containing predominantly male or gender-balanced faculty. Participating students reported their perceptions of mentor support, partner support, peer support, academic self-concept, sensitivity to family issues, stress, and career commitment. In studies, women in male-dominated programs expressed lower academic self-concept, less sensitivity in their departments to family issues, and lower career commitment compared with all other students. Mentor support and academic self-concept predicted the career commitment of all students. Student reports were unrelated to the gender of their mentors. A subset of the students participated at both time points; these students showed significant drops in self-concept and career commitment across the 2 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Fair" allocations of salaries and taxes.

Undergraduate judges were asked to "fairly" allocate salaries to hypothetical faculty members on the basis of their merit ratings. Individual merit ratings, total budgets to be distributed, and distributions of merit ratings for the entire group were manipulated. In another set of studies, undergraduate judges were asked to "fairly" assign income taxes to hypothetical persons given their salaries, and individual salaries, amounts of revenue to generate, and distributions of salaries for the group were varied. Overall results are explained by a theory of relative equity that suggests that an equitable state is one in which the relative position of a stimulus (e.g., merit or salary) in the distribution of stimuli matches the relative position of the response (e.g., salary or tax) in the distribution of responses. The relative position of a stimulus or response is defined as its range-frequency value based on the range-frequency compromise. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist in the department of psychiatry.

Results of a US survey show that psychologists are well represented on psychiatry faculties but tend to hold lower academic rank and receive lesser salaries than psychiatrists in equivalent ranks. Results also indicate rigorous criteria for promotion in these departments. Positive aspects, including patient contact and clinical research opportunities, are noted. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genomic organization of six tomato polygalacturonases and 5'' upstream sequence identity with tap1 and win2 genes

A growing number of residency programs are preparing their graduates for the realities of managed care practice. In 1996, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a private, nonprofit academic medical center, hosted a two-day conference on managed care education to develop innovative instructional and evaluative approaches that, where appropriate, would build on existing expertise. The conference was attended by invited national experts who had a stake in residents' education: clinical faculty, residents, medical educators, executives of managed care organizations, and representatives of other interested organizations. Participants spent much of their time in four small break out groups, each focusing on one of the following topics that were judged particularly relevant to managed care: preventive and population-based medicine, appropriate utilization of resources, clinician-patient communication, and interdisciplinary team practice. Participants shared existing materials, discussed teaching goals and objectives, and generated ideas for teaching methods, teaching materials, and evaluative methods for their respective topics. The authors summarize the recommendations from the four groups, with an overview of the issues that emerged during the conference concerning curriculum development, integration of managed care topics into existing curricula, staging of the curriculum, experiential teaching methods, negative attitudes and resistance, evaluation of trainees and profiling, program assessment, faculty development, and cooperation between academic medical centers and managed care organizations.     

Salary growth as a criterion of career progress.

As a possible improvement on absolute salary as a criterion, the authors computed the annual percentage growth of the salaries of 143 engineering graduates employed in industry. Although 1st-year salaries increased markedly from 1950 to 1955, and 1957 salaries varied with years of service, the growth rates were homogeneous. The rates for different professional groups were different 1st-year salary and salary growth were unrelated. Growth was related to academic grades, but absolute salary unexpectedly had a stronger relationship. Salary growth has some useful properties, but it is not uniformly applicable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

All the right stuff: A comparison of female and male managers' career progression.

Examined the career progression of male and female managers employed by 20 Fortune 500 corporations. All study participants had been geographically transferred for career advancement during the 2 yrs preceding the study. Nevertheless, the women lagged behind the men with respect to salary progression and frequency of job transfers. Although the women had done "all the right stuff" (getting a similar education as the men, maintaining similar levels of family power, working in similar industries, not moving in and out of the work force, not removing their names from consideration for a transfer more often) it was still not enough. There were still significant disparities in men's and women's salary progression and geographic mobility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career involvement of women in dual-career families: The influence of sex role identity.

Studied the influence of sex-role identity on the career involvement of 70 25–45 yr old professional women who were members of dual-career families that included young children. As predicted, Ss categorized as masculine on the Personality Research Form, ANDRO scales, were employed a significantly greater proportion of time after having children than Ss categorized as feminine. In addition, the more equalitarian the marriage, the more likely S was to continue her career participation after having children. Regardless of employment status and the equalitarianism of the marriage, Ss reported that they spent significantly more time alone with their children than their husbands did. Implications for various counseling situations are noted. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's love got to do with it? Social functioning, perceived health, and daily happiness in married octogenarians.

This study examined day-to-day links between perceived health and happiness and between time spent with others and happiness in 47 older adult couples over an 8-day period. Marital satisfaction and time spent with others were explored as potential moderators of links between health and happiness. For both men and women, hierarchical linear modeling revealed daily links between more time spent with others and greater happiness. Daily links between time spent with one's partner and happiness were strongly moderated by marital satisfaction. For both men and women, marital satisfaction buffered day-to-day links between poorer perceived health and a decline in happiness, but time spent with others did not. This study provides support for the role of marital satisfaction in protecting older adults' happiness from daily fluctuations in perceived physical health and for the influence of social connections in promoting happiness in the lives of older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapy supervision practices of academic faculty: A national survey.

A national sample of 300 American Psychological Association (APA) Division 12 members who hold academic appointments was surveyed about psychotherapy supervision practices. Of the 50.7% who returned questionnaires, results are reported for the 38.3% who described themselves as full-time faculty who regularly provide psychotherapy supervision. While there were substantial individual differences, the average academic supervisor devoted nearly seven hours per week to providing individual and group supervision and was responsible for an average of four graduate trainees, each of whom carried four cases. Despite the professional time commitment and attendant responsibilities and liabilities, 50% of faculty supervisors reported no additional compensation beyond their regular salaries. Also discussed are proportion of time allocated to various supervision modalities (e.g., live supervision) and gender differences in supervision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)