Intersection of Race and Gender in the Cardiothoracic Workforce: Study of Representation and Salary

Anastasiia K Tompkins; David T Cooke; Leah Backhus; J Michael DiMaio; Sara J Pereira; Mara Antonoff; Walter Merrill; Cherie P Erkmen; Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforces on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cardiothoracic Surgery Practice Models and Career Development

doi:10.1016/j.athoracsur.2024.09.053

Intersection of Race and Gender in the Cardiothoracic Workforce: Study of Representation and Salary

Ann Thorac Surg. 2024 Nov 8:S0003-4975(24)00935-4. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2024.09.053. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Anastasiia K Tompkins¹, David T Cooke², Leah Backhus³, J Michael DiMaio⁴, Sara J Pereira⁵, Mara Antonoff⁶, Walter Merrill⁷, Cherie P Erkmen⁸; Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforces on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cardiothoracic Surgery Practice Models and Career Development

Collaborators

Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforces on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cardiothoracic Surgery Practice Models and Career Development:
Sara Pereira⁹, Cherie P Erkmen¹⁰, Leah M Backhus¹¹, Ian C Bostock Rosenzweig¹², Donnell Bowen¹³, David Tom Cooke¹⁴, Loretta Erhunmwunsee¹⁵, Kirsten A Freeman¹⁶, Luis Godoy¹⁷, Deborah Kozik¹⁸, Jacques Kpodonu¹⁹, Kiran H Lagisetty²⁰, Glenn J Pelletier²¹, Smita Sihag²², Africa F Wallace²³, Fatima Wilder²⁴, Douglas E Wood²⁵, Amit Arora²⁶, Daniel J Boffa²⁷, J Michael DiMaio²⁸, Larry R Kaiser²⁹, Steven K Macheers³⁰, Linda W Martin³¹, Timothy S Misselbeck³², David J Spurlock³³, John J Squiers²⁸, T Brett Reece³⁴, Olugbenga Okusanya³⁵, Betty Tong³⁶, Erin Gillaspie³⁷, Amy Fiedler³⁸, Biniam Kidane³⁹, Min Kim⁴⁰, Anita Krueger⁴¹, Brian Mitzman⁴², Nahush Mokadam⁴³, Jay Pal²⁵, Panayotis Vardas⁴⁴, Stephen Yang⁴⁵, Elisabeth Dexter⁴⁶, Jessica Rove⁴⁷, Sahar Saddoughi⁴⁸, Derek Serna-Gallegos⁴⁹, David Nelson⁵⁰

Affiliations

¹ Center for Asian Health, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
² Section of General Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis Health, Sacramento, California.
³ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.
⁴ Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital, Plano, Texas.
⁵ Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, Utah.
⁶ Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
⁷ Department of Cardiac Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
⁸ Center for Asian Health, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, UT.
¹⁰ Temple University Health System, Philadelphia, PA.
¹¹ Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
¹² Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health, Miami, FL Charleston, SC.
¹³ Houston Methodist Hospital Sugarland, Katy, TX.
¹⁴ UC Davis Health, Sacramento, CA.
¹⁵ City of Hope National Medical Center, Pasadena, CA.
¹⁶ University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
¹⁷ University of California Davis Health, Sacramento, CA.
¹⁸ Norton Children's Hospital/University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
¹⁹ Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
²⁰ University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
²¹ Stanford University, Los Altos, CA.
²² Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.
²³ Capital Health Medical Center, Pennington, NJ.
²⁴ Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
²⁵ University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
²⁶ OhioHealth, Columbus, OH.
²⁷ Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
²⁸ Baylor Scott & White Health, Dallas, TX.
²⁹ Alvarez & Marsal Healthcare Industry Group, New York, NY.
³⁰ Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, GA.
³¹ University of Virginia Health, Charlottesville, VA.
³² Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, PA.
³³ AdventHealth, Orlando, FL.
³⁴ University of Colorado Health, Aurora, CO.
³⁵ Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
³⁶ Duke Raleigh Hospital, Durham, NC.
³⁷ CHI Health Bergan Mercy, Omaha, NE.
³⁸ UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.
³⁹ University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁴⁰ Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX.
⁴¹ Baylor, Scott, and White, Fort Worth, TX.
⁴² University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
⁴³ The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH.
⁴⁴ University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL.
⁴⁵ The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
⁴⁶ Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Cener, Buffalo, NY.
⁴⁷ University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO.
⁴⁸ The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
⁴⁹ University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA.
⁵⁰ UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.

PMID: 39521310
DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2024.09.053

Abstract

Background: Cardiothoracic surgery lacks gender and racial/ethnic diversity. Recent studies have highlighted disparities based on gender and race/ethnicity among academic cardiothoracic surgeons. The impact of the intersection of these factors on representation and salary is unknown.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and Association of American Medical Colleges data was performed on the number of trainees and clinical faculty stratified by race/ethnicity and gender using χ² testing.

Results: The number of women and underrepresented minorities was low in cardiothoracic surgery compared with other specialties, with lowest representation at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender. Among trainees, 8% were Asian, 2% were Black/African American , and 1.5% were Hispanic/Latina women. Among cardiothoracic faculty, 3.4% were Asian, 0.8% were Black/African American, and 0.4% were Hispanic/Latina women. Women in academic medicine, surgery, and cardiothoracic surgery earned 80%-87% the salary of men of equal academic rank. White assistant professors earned more than their colleagues (all clinical faculty, surgeons, and cardiothoracic surgeons), this difference was further compounded by gender.

Conclusions: Salary disparities exist among cardiothoracic surgeons at the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity. Women experience salary disparity across all academic ranks and specialties. When considering the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, gender is the predominant factor driving salary inequity.