Male/female salary gap in academic medicine: Women radiologists ahead of peers in other specialties

Academic radiology still has a ways to go before achieving salary parity between the sexes, but it’s doing better at getting there than most other teaching specialties, according to a study conducted at Yale and published May 23 in Academic Radiology.

Ajay Malhotra, MBBS, MD, and colleagues made the finding after analyzing compensation information on fulltime faculty at U.S. medical schools in the 2023 edition of the annual faculty salary survey report from the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).

This latest report contains responses from 97,224 faculty members across 10 clinical specialties. In radiology, some 5,847 faculty members completed the survey.  

Malhotra and co-authors’ key finding: Sex-based salary inequity in radiology is lower compared to most other specialties.

In addition:

• In radiology, women faculty members (n = 1,763) had lower median compensation than men (n = 3,839).
   
• Women radiologists’ pay was 6% lower than men’s at the rank of assistant professor, 3% lower for associate professors, 4% lower for professors and 6% lower for section chiefs.
   
• Surgery had the highest difference in median compensation with 21%, 24%, 22% and 19% lower faculty compensation, respectively, for women faculty members at corresponding ranks.
   
• Pathology had the lowest percent difference (< 1%) in median compensation for all professor ranks.
   
• Across the range of seniority and rank, all other clinical specialties except pathology and psychiatry had worse salary inequity than radiology.

In their discussion, Malhotra et al. note that the AAMC faculty salary report is a large, aggregate dataset. As such it does not drill into details like extra call compensation, bonus payments for productivity and years in service within a rank. Further, they acknowledge, it’s an open question whether these kinds of variables affect overall compensation in radiology as compared with other specialties.

Noting that the greatest salary difference in radiology is at the level of assistant professors and section chiefs, the authors state this pattern is also present in most other specialties.

“Differences in starting salaries have been shown previously to result in significant differences in earning potential over time,” Malhotra and colleagues remark. “However, the salary difference in radiology narrowed at associate professor and professor ranks, unlike medicine and surgery, where the high salary differences (greater than 15%) persisted at all career ranks.”

“Persistent salary inequity is a cause for concern,” the authors write. “Ensuring fair, equitable salary is integral to providing a diverse, equitable and inclusive professional environment.”