Minding the gap: How COVID-19 widens gender disparities, actionable solutions

ABSTRACT

Session Description Gender differences in reimbursement and career development are deeply rooted in surgery. Relative to their male counterparts, women surgeons have been paid lower mean incomes, shouldered more work at home, and experienced slower career advancement. Female otolaryngologists are paid 77 cents on the dollar relative to male colleague, are underrepresented in leadership positions, and have significantly lower average academic rank. The pandemic has greatly widened this professional chasm between men and women surgeons, hindering advancement of women physicians' careers and stymieing leadership growth. Compared with male colleagues, women in medicine bear substantially more responsibility for dependent care, teaching of children, and performing domestic duties during the COVID-19 pandemic. These structural differences impede women physicians' clinical and academic productivity, creating a formidable barrier to career advancement or to achieving equal compensation. These challenges also have potentially corrosive effects on morale, affecting well-being, resilience, and risk of burnout and other aspects of mental health. It is therefore imperative for organizations to recognize the unbalanced effects of the pandemic and work-life ramifications for women physicians across the career continuum. Whereas the past decade has witnessed progress in narrowing gender inequities, the pandemic has placed such gains on unstable footing, with the possibility of a precipitous fall without anticipatory measures. This session will present data on the current state of the gender gap and will cover strategies for organizations and their leaders to manage the widening of disparities in career/ professional advancement, compensation, and productivity for women within otolaryngology and medicine. Outcome Objectives: (1) Summarize data on prepandemic gender inequities within otolaryngology-head and neck surgery (OTO-HNS). (2) Identify the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on women in OTO-HNS at home and at work. (3) Present strategies for institutions and their leaders to prevent widening of disparities in career advancement, productivity, and compensation for women within OTO-HNS.