"Women's work": Gender and the physician workforce

Sarah M Temkin; Arghavan Salles; Elizabeth Barr; Cecilia B Leggett; Jeffrey S Reznick; Melissa S Wong

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116556

"Women's work": Gender and the physician workforce

Soc Sci Med. 2024 Jun:351 Suppl 1:116556. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116556. Epub 2024 May 31.

Authors

Sarah M Temkin¹, Arghavan Salles², Elizabeth Barr³, Cecilia B Leggett⁴, Jeffrey S Reznick⁵, Melissa S Wong⁶

Affiliations

¹ NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
³ NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁶ NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

PMID: 38825379
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116556

Abstract

Historically, the physician professional identity and the organizational structure of Western medicine have been defined by masculine norms such as authority and assertiveness. The past five decades have seen a rapid shift in the demographics of attendees as medical schools, with equal numbers of women and men matriculants for nearly twenty years. Gender as a social, cultural, and structural variable continues to influence the physician workforce. The entry of women into medicine, has had far reaching effects on the expectations of patients, the interactions of physicians with other members of the healthcare team, and the delivery of care. Redefining the culture of medicine to accommodate the diversity of the modern workforce may benefit all physician and improve the delivery of healthcare.

Keywords: Gender; Gender equity; Healthcare; History of medicine.

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Male
Physicians / psychology
Physicians / statistics & numerical data
Physicians / supply & distribution
Physicians, Women* / statistics & numerical data
Women, Working / statistics & numerical data