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Same job, different rewards: The gender pay gap among physicians in Italy

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  • Camilla Gaiaschi

Abstract

Women have made significant progress in the medical profession, but despite this trend towards equality, the gender pay gap persists. This study investigates the determinants of earning differentials among physicians in Italy. This analysis is based on a dataset of more than 1000 doctors working in five hospitals in the Lombardy region. Data were collected through an online survey with a response rate of 48.7 per cent. Women's concentration in the lower ranks of the career ladder, their lower propensity to work as private practitioners and their lower concentration in surgical specialties contribute to the gender income gap. Having children and a spouse or a cohabiting partner entails a premium on income for men, but no penalty for women, which suggests that positive discrimination towards fathers and husbands is stronger than negative discrimination towards mothers and wives. On the other hand, the gender gap associated with marital and parental status is stronger in public hospitals than in private hospitals, at least up to the second child. Once differences in characteristics are controlled, women earn 18 per cent less than men. This penalty should be ascribed to employer's discrimination and/or unobserved characteristics. These findings challenge the human capital perspective by calling for attention into the role of structural mechanisms in producing inequalities.

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  • Camilla Gaiaschi, 2019. "Same job, different rewards: The gender pay gap among physicians in Italy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(11), pages 1562-1588, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:26:y:2019:i:11:p:1562-1588
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12351
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    Cited by:

    1. Carolina Castagnetti & Luisa Rosti & Marina Töpfer, 2020. "Discriminate me — If you can! The disappearance of the gender pay gap among public‐contest selected employees in Italy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1040-1076, November.
    2. Zbigniew Izdebski & Alicja Kozakiewicz & Maciej Białorudzki & Joanna Dec-Pietrowska & Joanna Mazur, 2023. "Occupational Burnout in Healthcare Workers, Stress and Other Symptoms of Work Overload during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-19, January.
    3. Kralj, Boris & O'Toole, Danielle & Vanstone, Meredith & Sweetman, Arthur, 2022. "The gender earnings gap in medicine: Evidence from Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(10), pages 1002-1009.
    4. Jones, Melanie K. & Kaya, Ezgi, 2021. "The Gender Pay Gap in UK Medicine," IZA Discussion Papers 14177, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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