COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Gendered Impact on Indian Physicians.
JCO Glob Oncol
; 7: 1093-1100, 2021 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1298069
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
The 2018 WHO health workforce report analyzing gender equity in 104 countries reported that although women constituted 70% of the workers, they were less likely to be employed full-time and faced a 28% gender pay gap. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected professional as well as personal lives of physicians. We conducted a survey among Indian physicians to understand this impact.METHODS:
A 31-point anonymized survey to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown on physicians' domestic responsibilities was disseminated via e-mail and text messaging applications. Our aim was to evaluate whether the impact was gender-based and to look for differences in aspects of domestic work, childcare, and professional commitments.RESULTS:
We obtained 1,041 responses, of which 643 identified themselves as men and 393 as women. An increase in the domestic responsibilities during the lockdown was confirmed by 90% of the women compared with 82% men. More women than men were solely responsible for domestic chores (38.7% v 23.7%), managed their children's education (74% v 31%), and felt an adverse impact of the pandemic on their professional work (60.8% v 42.6%). Fewer women's spouses (57/359) than men's (174/594, P = .00001) were forced to take leave or work reduced hours, and double the proportion of women (3.5% v 1.5%) had to quit their jobs to manage responsibilities at home.CONCLUSION:
As the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures threw newer challenges, more women physicians than men (81% v 63%) shouldered the burden of increased domestic work and childcare. This survey highlights the need to re-examine the specific challenges faced by women physicians and identify means to support and empower them.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Physicians
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
Limits:
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
JCO Glob Oncol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Go.21.00020
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