Skip to main content

Nearly Half of Women in Medicine With Children Pass Up Career Advancement

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, July 28, 2023 -- Three-fourths of women in medicine report delaying pregnancy due to competing priorities of parenthood and career, according to a study published online July 27 in JAMA Network Open.

Jennifer B. Bakkensen, M.D., from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues evaluated delayed childbearing and infertility among women in medicine and the extent to which women physicians may alter career trajectories to accommodate family building and parenthood. The analysis included survey responses from 1,056 cisgender women (mean age, 38.3 years) from across level of training (attending physicians: 67.6 percent; residents or fellows: 26.8 percent), specialty (surgical: 38.6 percent; nonsurgical: 60.4 percent), and practice setting (academic: 45.2 percent; private: 24.9 percent; community: 21.0 percent).

The researchers found that 86.2 percent of respondents were married or partnered and 65.3 percent of respondents had children. Three-quarters of individuals (75.6 percent) reported delaying family building and one-third (36.8 percent) reported experiencing infertility. More than one-quarter of women with children (28.8 percent) said they had taken extended leave, 24.8 percent said they had chosen a different specialty, 47.1 percent said they had reduced their work hours, 24.8 percent said they had changed their practice setting, and 47.2 percent said they had passed up opportunities for career advancement.

"These findings suggest that fertility and family building concerns among women in medicine may contribute to ongoing gender disparities and attrition and represent a potentially critical area for policy reform and future change," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted July 2023

Read this next

First Responders With More Debris Exposure Have Higher Risk of Early Dementia

FRIDAY, June 14, 2024 -- More severe exposure to dust or debris among World Trade Center (WTC) responders is significantly associated with a higher risk of dementia at <65...

1990 to 2019 Saw Increase in Life Expectancy in Seniors With T1DM

FRIDAY, June 14, 2024 -- From 1990 to 2019, there was an increase in life expectancy in older people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), according to a study published online...

Second Tumors Are Rare After Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy

FRIDAY, June 14, 2024 -- Second tumors are rarely seen after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, according to a study published in the June 13 issue of the New England...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.