A study of compensation at OHSU led by Heather E. Hoops, MD, examined the salaries earned by certain department of surgery faculty during 2009-2017 and promotion and retention rates during 1998-2007. The study excluded instructors, the chair of the department, and some other faculty members whose salaries were based on specific bonuses.
The researchers found that prior to the change in 2015, the 24 female faculty made significantly less than the 62 men (P = .004). After the “Faculty First” initiative was implemented in 2015, salaries for both genders grew significantly and gender salary gap was virtually closed after that time.
The researchers found no gender disparity in time to promotion among the faculty. No significant difference was found in the rate of departure between male and female faculty (P = .73), although women who were not promoted tended to leave more quickly than their male counterparts.
“Objective compensation plans may work by mitigating gender-based implicit bias in the salary negotiation process and differences in salary negotiation style between females and males,” Dr. Hoops and her coauthors wrote. “However, objective compensation plans do not supplant the need for other institutional interventions, such as implicit bias training and objective and transparent promotion criteria, to improve gender equality among surgeons.”