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The effect of transparency on the gender-based compensation gap in surgical disciplines within a large academic healthcare system

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Abstract

Background

Female representation in surgery and surgical subspecialties has increased over the last decade. Studies have shown a discrepancy in compensation in the field of surgery, and several groups have advocated for increasing transparency as a primary solution to decrease this gender salary gap in surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in compensation between genders in surgical specialties within a large academic healthcare system.

Methods

Using a public compensation database from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016, this retrospective observational study analyzed salaries of full-time faculty surgeons within a large multi-institutional academic healthcare system. Surgeons included those who were employed for the entirety of 2016 and were full-time faculty who were then stratified according to surgical specialty and rank. The median base and median total salaries were compared between male and female surgeons with adjustment for rank and surgical specialty.

Results

There were 170 surgeons from eight surgical subspecialties included in the study with 29% being female (n = 50). Overall, unadjusted and adjusted median total salaries were significantly lower for female compared to male surgeons by $121,578 and $45,904, respectively. The three subspecialties with the highest compensation had a median total salary of $558,998 and had a high male to female ratio (3.7 male to 1 female), whereas the three subspecialties with the lowest compensation had a median total salary of $376,174 and had a male to female ratio of 1.5 male to 1 female.

Conclusions

In a large academic healthcare system with transparent and publicly accessible salaries, the gender compensation gap in surgery persists. In conjunction with transparency, future academic institutions should consider a value-based, objective compensation plan with personal and systemic introspection of traditional gender biases, in efforts to circumvent the impact of gender on salary.

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, Orange, CA, 92868, USA

    Sahil Gambhir, Shaun C. Daly, Dawn Elfenbein, Brian Sheehan, Shelley Maithel & Ninh T. Nguyen

  2. Center for Statistical Consulting, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Megan Smith

  3. Department of Surgery, University of California Irvine Medical Center, 333 City Blvd West, Suite 1600, Orange, CA, 92868, USA

    Ninh T. Nguyen

Authors
  1. Sahil Gambhir
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  2. Shaun C. Daly
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  5. Shelley Maithel
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Correspondence to Ninh T. Nguyen.

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Disclosures

Ninh T. Nguyen: received honorarium as a speaker for Covidien, Gore, Novadaq, and Olympus. The authors report no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article. All authors have approved the final article. Sahil Gambhir, Shaun C. Daly, Dawn Elfenbein, Brian Sheehan, Shelley Maithel and Megan Smith have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Gambhir, S., Daly, S.C., Elfenbein, D. et al. The effect of transparency on the gender-based compensation gap in surgical disciplines within a large academic healthcare system. Surg Endosc 35, 2607–2612 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-020-07679-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-020-07679-1

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