IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v75y2012i9p1612-1616.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of gender-based career obstacles on the working status of women physicians in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Nomura, Kyoko
  • Gohchi, Kengo

Abstract

Research has shown that women physicians work fewer hours and are more likely to become inactive professionally and to switch to part-time labor, compared with their male counterparts. The published literature suggests that a gender disparity still exists in medicine which may decrease work motivation among women physicians. The authors investigated whether the experience and the perception of gender-based career obstacles among women physicians in Japan are associated with their working status (i.e., full-time vs. part-time). The present cross-sectional study is based on surveys of alumnae from 13 private medical schools in Japan conducted between June 2009 and May 2011. Of those who agreed to participate in this study, 1684 completed a self-administered questionnaire (overall response rate 83%). Experience of gender-based obstacles was considered affirmative if a woman physician had been overlooked for opportunities of professional advancement based on gender. Perception of gender-based obstacles referred to the self-reported degree of difficulty of promotion and opportunities for a position in higher education. Approximately 20% of the study participants responded that they experienced gender-based obstacles while 24% answered that they were not sure. The scores for perception of gender-based career obstacles were statistically higher among part-time workers compared with full-time workers (mean difference = 1.20, 95% CI: 0.39–2.00). Adjusting for age, marital status, the presence of children, workplace, board certification, holding a PhD degree, overall satisfaction of being a physician, and household income, stepwise logistic regression models revealed that physicians with the strongest perception of gender-based career obstacles were more likely to work part-time rather than full-time (OR, 0.59; 95% CI: 0.40–0.88). Although the experience of gender-based obstacles was not associated with working status among women physicians, the results demonstrated that a strong perception of gender-based obstacles was associated with part-time practice rather than full-time practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Nomura, Kyoko & Gohchi, Kengo, 2012. "Impact of gender-based career obstacles on the working status of women physicians in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1612-1616.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:9:p:1612-1616
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.07.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953612005552
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.07.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Jian & Yang, Wenjie & Cho, Sung-il, 2006. "Gender differences in job strain, effort-reward imbalance, and health functioning among Chinese physicians," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(5), pages 1066-1077, March.
    2. Heiligers, Phil J. M. & Hingstman, L., 2000. "Career preferences and the work-family balance in medicine: gender differences among medical specialists," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(9), pages 1235-1246, May.
    3. Gjerberg, Elisabeth, 2002. "Gender similarities in doctors' preferences -- and gender differences in final specialisation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 591-605, February.
    4. Richman, Judith A. & Flaherty, Joseph A., 1990. "Gender differences in medical student distress: Contributions of prior socialization and current role-related stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 777-787, January.
    5. Gjerberg, Elisabeth, 2003. "Women doctors in Norway: the challenging balance between career and family life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(7), pages 1327-1341, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Chao & Sweetman, Arthur, 2013. "Gender, family status and physician labour supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 17-25.
    2. Anju Murayama & Akihiko Ozaki & Hiroaki Saito & Toyoaki Sawano & Yuki Shimada & Kana Yamamoto & Yosuke Suzuki & Tetsuya Tanimoto, 2020. "Pharmaceutical company payments to dermatology Clinical Practice Guideline authors in Japan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(10), pages 1-16, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Jong, Judith D. & Heiligers, Phil & Groenewegen, Peter P. & Hingstman, Lammert, 2006. "Why are some medical specialists working part-time, while others work full-time?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(2-3), pages 235-248, October.
    2. Migheli, Matteo, 2010. "Gender at work: Productivity and incentives," POLIS Working Papers 142, Institute of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS.
    3. Heikkilä, Teppo Juhani & Hyppölä, Harri & Aine, Tiina & Halila, Hannu & Vänskä, Jukka & Kujala, Santero & Virjo, Irma & Mattila, Kari, 2014. "How do doctors choose where they want to work? – Motives for choice of current workplace among physicians registered in Finland 1977–2006," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 109-117.
    4. Wang, Chao & Sweetman, Arthur, 2013. "Gender, family status and physician labour supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 17-25.
    5. Van den Brink, Marieke, 2011. "Scouting for talent: Appointment practices of women professors in academic medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 2033-2040, June.
    6. Cinzia Di Novi & Rowena Jacobs & Matteo Migheli, 2013. "The quality of life of female informal caregivers: from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea," Working Papers 084cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    7. Dan Kan & Xiaosong Yu, 2016. "Occupational Stress, Work-Family Conflict and Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Bank Employees: The Role of Psychological Capital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, January.
    8. Wallace, Jean Elizabeth & Lemaire, Jane, 2007. "On physician well being--You'll get by with a little help from your friends," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 2565-2577, June.
    9. Shimazu, Akihito & de Jonge, Jan, 2009. "Reciprocal relations between effort-reward imbalance at work and adverse health: A three-wave panel survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 60-68, January.
    10. Orawan Kaewboonchoo & Grace Sembajwe & Jian Li, 2018. "Associations between Job Strain and Arterial Stiffness: A Large Survey among Enterprise Employees from Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, April.
    11. Kodama, Tomoko & Koike, Soichi & Matsumoto, Shinya & Ide, Hiroo & Yasunaga, Hideo & Imamura, Tomoaki, 2012. "The working status of Japanese female physicians by area of practice: Cohort analysis of taking leave, returning to work, and changing specialties from 1984 to 2004," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 214-220.
    12. Judith Semeijn & Rolf van der Velden & Hans Heijke & Cees van der Vleuten & Henny Boshuizen, 2005. "The Role of Education in Selection and Allocation in the Labour Market: An Empirical Study in the Medical Field," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 449-477.
    13. Megha Swami & Hugh Gravelle & Anthony Scott & Jenny Williams, 2018. "Hours worked by general practitioners and waiting times for primary care," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(10), pages 1513-1532, October.
    14. Johannessen, Karl-Arne & Hagen, Terje P., 2013. "Individual and hospital-specific factors influencing medical graduates' time to medical specialization," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 170-175.
    15. Luqiao Wang & Yunke Shi & Zhao Hu & Yanyan Li & Yan Ang & Pan Jing & Bangying Zhang & Xingyu Cao & Adrian Loerbroks & Jian Li & Min Zhang, 2022. "Longitudinal Associations of Work Stress with Changes in Quality of Life among Patients after Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Hospital-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-12, December.
    16. Judith Semeijn & Rolf van der Velden & Hans Heijke & Cees van der Vleuten & Henny Boshuizen, 2005. "The Role of Education in Selection and Allocation in the Labour Market: An Empirical Study in the Medical Field," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 449-477.
    17. Siegrist, Johannes & Shackelton, Rebecca & Link, Carol & Marceau, Lisa & von dem Knesebeck, Olaf & McKinlay, John, 2010. "Work stress of primary care physicians in the US, UK and German health care systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 298-304, July.
    18. Song, Jia & Cheng, Terence C., 2020. "How do gender differences in family responsibilities affect doctors' labour supply? Evidence from Australian panel data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    19. Liza Jachens & Jonathan Houdmont, 2019. "Effort-Reward Imbalance and Job Strain: A Composite Indicator Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-9, October.
    20. Xinrui Wu & Qian Liu & Qi Li & Zhengwen Tian & Hongzhuan Tan, 2019. "Health-Related Quality of Life and Its Determinants among Criminal Police Officers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-12, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:9:p:1612-1616. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.