FREE NEJM E-TOC    HOME   |   SUBSCRIBE   |   CURRENT ISSUE   |   PAST ISSUES   |   COLLECTIONS   |   Search Term  Advanced Search

Sign in | Get NEJM's E-Mail Table of Contents — Free | Subscribe

Previous Volume 342:399-405 February 10, 2000 Number 6 Next

	Full Text PDF Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

ABSTRACT

Background I conducted a study to determine whether women who graduate from medical schools are more or less likely than their male counterparts to pursue full-time careers in academic medicine and to advance to the senior ranks of medical school faculties.

Methods The rates of advancement to the ranks of assistant, associate, and full professor for all U.S. medical school graduates from 1979 through 1993 and for all members of U.S. medical school faculties from 1979 through 1997 were studied. Cohorts were defined on the basis of the year of graduation from medical school, track (tenure or nontenure), and academic department. Within each cohort, the number of women who advanced to a senior rank was compared with the number that would be expected on the basis of parity between men and women, and 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated.

Results Women were significantly more likely than men to pursue an academic career. During the study period, 634 more women became faculty members than expected. The numbers were higher in the older cohorts than in the younger cohorts. The numbers of women who advanced to the ranks of associate and full professor were significantly lower than the expected numbers. This was true for both tenure and nontenure tracks, even after adjustment for the department. A total of 334 fewer women advanced to associate professor than expected, and 44 fewer women advanced to full professor than expected.

Conclusions Disparities persist in the advancement of men and women on medical school faculties. However, the numbers of women physicians at all levels of academic medicine are increasing.

Source Information

From the Center for the Assessment and Management of Change in Academic Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Nonnemaker at the Center for the Assessment and Management of Change in Academic Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, 2450 N St., NW, Washington, DC 20037, or at lnonnemaker{at}aamc.org.

Full Text of this Article

Related Letters:

Women Physicians in Academic Medicine
Lawless N. P., Parker M. E., Safer L. F., Gates J., Nonnemaker L., De Angelis C. D.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 2000; 342:1839-1840, Jun 15, 2000. Correspondence

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wong, C. A., Stock, M. C. (2008). The Status of Women in Academic Anesthesiology: A Progress Report. Anesth. Analg. 107: 178-184 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Jagsi, R., Tarbell, N. J., Henault, L. E., Chang, Y., Hylek, E. M. (2008). The Representation of Women on the Editorial Boards of Major Medical Journals: A 35-Year Perspective. Arch Intern Med 168: 544-548 [Full Text]  
• Rosenbaum, J. R. (2008). Duality. Health Aff (Millwood) 27: 494-499 [Full Text]  
• Emans, S. J., Goldberg, C. T., Milstein, M. E., Dobriner, J. (2008). Creating a Faculty Development Office in an Academic Pediatric Hospital: Challenges and Successes. Pediatrics 121: 390-401 [Full Text]  
• Murray, F., Graham, L. (2007). Buying science and selling science: gender differences in the market for commercial science. Ind Corp Change 16: 657-689 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Women Chairs of the Association of Medical School, (2007). Women in Pediatrics: Recommendations for the Future. Pediatrics 119: 1000-1005 [Full Text]  
• Nattinger, A. B. (2007). Promoting the Career Development of Women in Academic Medicine. Arch Intern Med 167: 323-324 [Full Text]  
• Jagsi, R., Butterton, J. R., Starr, R., Tarbell, N. J. (2007). A Targeted Intervention for the Career Development of Women in Academic Medicine. Arch Intern Med 167: 343-345 [Full Text]  
• Jagsi, R., Guancial, E. A., Worobey, C. C., Henault, L. E., Chang, Y., Starr, R., Tarbell, N. J., Hylek, E. M. (2006). The "gender gap" in authorship of academic medical literature--a 35-year perspective.. NEJM 355: 281-287 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hamel, M. B., Ingelfinger, J. R., Phimister, E., Solomon, C. G. (2006). Women in academic medicine--progress and challenges.. NEJM 355: 310-312 [Full Text]  
• Fox, G., Schwartz, A., Hart, K. M. (2006). Work-Family Balance and Academic Advancement in Medical Schools. Acad. Psychiatry 30: 227-234 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gargiulo, D. A., Hyman, N. H., Hebert, J. C. (2006). Women in Surgery: Do We Really Understand the Deterrents?. Arch Surg 141: 405-408 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hirshbein, L. D., Fitzgerald, K., Riba, M. (2004). Women and Teaching in Academic Psychiatry. Acad. Psychiatry 28: 292-298 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bogan, A. M., Safer, D. L. (2004). Women in Psychiatric Training. Acad. Psychiatry 28: 305-309 [Full Text]  
• Olarte, S. W. (2004). Women Psychiatrists: Personal and Professional Choices--A Survey. Acad. Psychiatry 28: 321-324 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hirshbein, L. D. (2004). History of Women in Psychiatry. Acad. Psychiatry 28: 337-344 [Full Text]  
• End, A., Mittlboeck, M., Piza-Katzer, H. (2004). Professional Satisfaction of Women in Surgery: Results of a National Study. Arch Surg 139: 1208-1214 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Levinson, W., Lurie, N. (2004). When Most Doctors Are Women: What Lies Ahead?. ANN INTERN MED 141: 471-474 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ash, A. S., Carr, P. L., Goldstein, R., Friedman, R. H. (2004). Compensation and Advancement of Women in Academic Medicine: Is There Equity?. ANN INTERN MED 141: 205-212 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• IOANNIDIS, J. P. A. (2004). Global estimates of high-level brain drain and deficit. FASEB J. 18: 936-939 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Grandis, J. R., Gooding, W. E., Zamboni, B. A., Wagener, M. M., Drenning, S. D., Miller, L., Doyle, K. J., Mackinnon, S. E., Wagner, R. L. (2004). The Gender Gap in a Surgical Subspecialty: Analysis of Career and Lifestyle Factors. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 130: 695-702 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• O'Dorisio, M. S., O'Dorisio, T. M. (2003). Two-Career Families: Published Data and Personal Reflections. Exp. Biol. Med. 228: 1266-1268 [Full Text]  
• Howard, L. (2003). Women in academic psychiatry. Psychiatr. Bull. 27: 321-322 [Full Text]  
• Killaspy, H., Johnson, S., Livingston, G., Hassiotis, A., Robertson, M. (2003). Women in academic psychiatry in the United Kingdom. Psychiatr. Bull. 27: 323-326 [Full Text]  
• Schnapp, L. M., Matosian, M., Weisman, I., Welsh, C. H. (2003). A Snapshot of Pulmonary Medicine at the Turn of the Century: The American Thoracic Society Membership. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 167: 1176-1180 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• de Groot, J., Brunet, A., Kaplan, A. S., Bagby, M. (2003). A Comparison of Evaluations of Male and Female Psychiatry Supervisors. Acad. Psychiatry 27: 39-43 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Carter, O., Nathisuwan, S., Stoddard, G. J, Munger, M. A (2003). Faculty Turnover Within Academic Pharmacy Departments. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 37: 197-201 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Steinberg, A. G., Iezzoni, L. I., Conill, A., Stineman, M. (2002). Reasonable Accommodations for Medical Faculty With Disabilities. JAMA 288: 3147-3154 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Colby, K. (2002). Now We Number 33: Women in Ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in 2002. Arch Ophthalmol 120: 1738-1740 [Full Text]  
• Mark, S., Gupta, J. (2002). Reentry Into Clinical Practice: Challenges and Strategies. JAMA 288: 1091-1096 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fang, D., Moy, E., Colburn, L., Hurley, J. (2000). Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Faculty Promotion in Academic Medicine. JAMA 284: 1085-1092 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• (2000). Underscoring the Importance of Mentoring. Arch Ophthalmol 118: 1285-1286 [Full Text]  
• Lawless, N. P., Parker, M. E., Safer, L. F., Gates, J., Nonnemaker, L., De Angelis, C. D. (2000). Women Physicians in Academic Medicine. NEJM 342: 1839-1840 [Full Text]  
• De Angelis, C. D. (2000). Women in Academic Medicine: New Insights, Same Sad News. NEJM 342: 425-427 [Full Text]