Gender Wage Gap For Veterinarians Widens
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) conducted a study of the conditions in the veterinary marketplace in 1998 and recently did a follow-up study. In their recent follow-up study the AVMA found that the discrepancy between male and female earnings has increased in the years since 1998. This fact held for associates in veterinary practices and for practice owners. The gap tended to widen as years of experience increased.
The practice owner discrepancy is what got me. It seems to suggest something in the “psyche” of female veterinarians that contributes to their lower earnings. Indeed, the AVMA study found a few clues: female veterinarians had lower earnings expectations than their male counterparts; female veterinarians tended to price their services lower; female veterinarians had lower self-evaluations of their business, financial and management skills.
The wage discrepancy between men and women in veterinary medicine is not well understood. This much we do know: 1) it is an issue of fundamental equity and 2) it represents a perverse and ironic fact in a world where over 70% of veterinary students are female.
January 12th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Just happened to drop by your site, and just happened to catch the subject in your blog posts abot gender gap. I am a female. My immediate reaction to this blog is that women have a more realistic view of themselves, their self-evaluations, etc., and that the reality is not a psyche problem with the women, but an enormous ego problem with the men. I need not not say more.
January 12th, 2007 at 9:55 am
To be clear, it isn’t just that female veterinarians make less money because they elect to do so — that they decide to have a better quality of life, balance work and family better, etc. Female veterinarians make less money than their male counterparts for the same amount of time worked.
January 15th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
My point, stated more clearly, is that I believe men believe they are more valuable than women. Men overvalue themselves, more than women undervalue themselves. I agree that the value placed on a service should not be determined by one’s gender, but understand that in today’s reality, unfortunately, that is not happening.
Today’s women unfortunately still believe that men “allow” us to do and be what we are ! i.e., women were “allowed” to vote, women were “allowed” to be seen in slacks in public, women were “allowed” to hold positions that were once only afforded to men. Women need to understand that they do not need mans permission or allowance to be or do anything!
January 15th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
The economic, sociological and psychological reasons why female veterinarians, and women generally, make less than men are likely complex — and certainly beyond my expertise. I offered a few of the bullet points from the AVMA study, but can’t hazard a guess as to root causes or their exact effects on veterinarian income.