Women anesthesiologists receive an average of $32,617 less than men in compensation each year, according to a new study funded by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.
The study, published Aug. 10 in Anesthesia and Analgesia Today, also found women anesthesiologists are 56 percent less likely to be paid at the highest salary range compared to men in their field.
ASA recommends the following practices to mitigate the gap:
1. Identifying existing policies, procedures, leadership and culture that promote compensation equity.
2. Provide equitable physician compensation based on comparable work.
3. Provide transparency and assessment of the equity of physician compensation arrangements.
4. Provide implicit bias training for all who make compensation decisions.
5. The establishment and provision of programs in negotiation, career and leadership development for all anesthesiologists and physicians-in-training.
ASA plans to repeat the gender compensation survey in five years to examine the effects of the recommendations.