Are Women Becoming the New Majority in Medicine?

Sophie Baldwin, 8/14/24

For centuries, modern medicine has been a male-dominated field. Even today, only around 38% of active physicians are women (AAMC). However, we are beginning to see a flip in medicine. In 2019, for the first time ever, women accounted for the majority of students enrolled in medical school at 50.5% (AAMC). In the 2023-2024 cycle, that number increased to around 55% (The Hill). This raises an important question: in the coming decades, will women become the new majority in medicine?

In 2004, women only made up about a quarter of active physicians (AAMC). Two decades later, this percentage has grown by a whopping 12%. Women have historically dominated other careers in healthcare such as nursing or physician assistant. This still holds true today, yet medicine is a different story. Historically, medicine has been male-dominated. Actually, it wasn’t until Title IX of the Higher Education Act Amendments was implemented in the 1970s that gender discrimination was banned in medicine. Since the 1970s, the percentage of women in medical school has increased; however, that does not mean they were welcomed into the medical field with open arms. Women often faced, and continue to face, gender bias in medicine, especially in predominantly male specialties such as urology. Women are also underrepresented in award recipients in oncology specialties (ASCO Daily News). 

In academic medicine, women are less likely to be promoted. Women continue to make up a minority of researchers as well, accounting for 42% in the US (Axios), though this gap may narrow as more women are awarded PhDs. For these reasons, many women face burnout and leave academic medicine.

Overall, female physicians have higher attrition rates than their male counterparts. This could be due to a variety of reasons. For one, female physicians may switch to part-time or take time off if they choose to have children. Oftentimes, women are expected to control childcare responsibilities, which can be difficult alongside a full-time job as a physician. Another explanation could be compensation. As with many other careers, women make less money than their male counterparts. Despite spending an average of 2.4 additional minutes per patient visit (NEJM), female physicians are paid less than men. The frustrations that come with unfair compensation can cause burnout, leading to higher attrition rates.

In recent decades, there has been a push to encourage more high-achieving women to attend medical school. This approach appears to have been successful: more women than ever are now applying to medical school. Now, medical schools are even receiving more qualified female applicants than male applicants. But if women now make up the majority of medical students, why do they still make up a minority of practicing physicians? The simple explanation is that the gender distributions of practicing physicians have not yet caught up with the gender distributions in medical school. Many physicians from the late 20th century (who are majority male) are still in practice today. As more medical school classes graduate and begin practicing in coming decades, more women will begin their careers and we should expect to see this gender gap narrow. In the past 20 years, women’s representation has grown the most in critical care, gastroenterology, and urology (AAMC). It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as more women continue to enter the field of medicine, or if other specialties become more female-dominated. But, what is for certain is that the future of medicine is becoming more female.

References

AAMC, “Women are changing the face of medicine in America”

https://www.aamc.org/news/women-are-changing-face-medicine-america

ASCO Daily News, “Careers in Medicine are Disproportionately Difficult for Women and Minorities: We Must Create a Sense of Community and Representation”

https://dailynews.ascopubs.org/do/careers-medicine-disproportionally-difficult-women-and-minorities-we-must-create-sense 

Axios, “Where in the world the women scientists are”

https://www.axios.com/2024/06/17/share-women-scientists-countries

New England Journal of Medicine, “Physician Work Hours and the Gender Pay Gap — Evidence from Primary Care”

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa2013804 

The Hill, “More women than ever are becoming doctors. Here’s why there are still so few.”

https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/4479304-more-women-than-ever-are-becoming-doctors-heres-why-there-are-still-so-few/