Equity and Gender Issues Among Members of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology

Abstract

Background: Gender equity has historically been a challenge within gastroenterology.

Aims: The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (CAG) developed a survey to identify issues pertaining to equity and gender faced by its membership and to determine areas of action.

Methods: In 2014, the survey was emailed to all 1155 CAG members, and the data were analyzed using statistical methods.

Results: One hundred eleven CAG members responded to the survey. Of those, 52% were male, 75% were between 26 and 45 years of age, and 55% were in their first decade of practice. More males held the status of full professor (21% versus 0%; P=0.022). Male CAG members reported working more hours per week than their female counterparts (58.3 ± 15.4 versus 52.3 ± 11.8, P=0.025). Regarding commitments outside the workplace, 81% of respondents had a spouse/partner, and 52% had children under 18 years of age, both of which did not significantly differ based on gender. Overall, 70% were satisfied or very satisfied with their career path. However, significantly more females felt their age/ethnicity/gender/marital status hindered career advancement (36% versus 14%; P=0.008). Furthermore, more females reported difficulties attaining work-life balance (45% versus 22%; P=0.015).

Conclusions: This survey highlights that gender and equity challenges continue to exist within gastroenterology. The needs assessment highlights that work-life balance, physician well-being, negotiation skills and mentorship are areas of importance to many CAG members.

Keywords: Diversity; Equity; Gastroenterology; Gender; Women in medicine.

Figure 1.

A) Average number of hours worked per week. Error bars depict standard deviation from mean. B) Self-reported annual income range of respondents. Black bars depict responses of male respondents, and white bars depict responses of female respondents. *A statistically significant difference, K=1000.

Figure 2.

A) Career satisfaction of respondents. B) Perception of age/ethnicity/gender/marital status on hindering career advancement. C) Ability to balance home/personal and work life without hindering career progression. D) Perception of the existence of equity & gender issues within gastroenterology? Black bars depict responses of male respondents and white bars depict responses of female respondents.

Figure 3.

A) Topics of interest to CAG membership. B) Needs assessment of CAG membership. Responses were on a five-point Likert scale with one being not important and five being very important (orange = five, blue = four, purple = three, green = two, red = one.