Mar 18, 2021
The law states that male and
female physicians should be earning the same, but time and time
again, the data has proven that this is not the case. Unfair pay
structures and circumstances impact female doctors, and they all
add up to an uphill battle for equal pay.
It’s not just that female
physicians are earning less generally.
The specialties we dominate are
paid less. We are funneled away from the higher-paying specialties.
There also aren’t enough women in leadership advocating for equal
pay, and we’re conditioned not to rock the boat.
When it comes to getting paid
what we’re worth, there are biases and barriers that are layered in
at every step of the process.
How do leadership structures get in the way of advocacy? What are some of the societal structures we are battling? What can we do to empower ourselves?
In this episode, I’m joined by certified life coach, physician, and founder of
Wealthy Mom MD, Bonnie Koo. We discuss some of the key issues that
play into the gender pay gap.
Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode
The specialty pay gap
There are some fields that are more associated
with women than others. Those specialties not only earn less, but
the female physicians within those fields earn less than their male
counterparts. Not only are women being pushed into certain
specialties, but once they enter those fields and become the
majority, the pay in those fields also drops
considerably.
Why female leaders in medicine are so
important
Data
shows that if there’s one woman in a group of men, she often
doesn’t speak up. If you have a token woman at the leadership
table, and she’s uncomfortable speaking up, she’s not going to feel
open to share her thoughts and impact the conversation.
If women in leadership have no
voice, their presence is more about optics than actual
progress.
How the pay gap robs female physicians on two
fronts
Closing the
gender pay gap isn’t just about making things equal going forward.
An equally devastating issue is making up for the lost potential
and lost earnings from not earning what we’re worth in the past.
The past is even harder to fix and mitigate, and very often women
don’t have the resources to fight back and correct
it.
Guest Bio
Bonnie Koo, MD is a certified
life coach, physician, and founder of Wealthy Mom MD. She is a
proud graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University's College
of Physicians & Surgeons. Her mission is to help women create
wealth and rewrite history.
Bonnie is the host of
the Wealthy Mom MD Podcast and author of Defining Wealth for Women:
(n.) Peace, Purpose, and Plenty of Cash! debuting Fall 2021.
For more information
visit https://wealthymommd.com/ and
follow @wealthymommd on
Instagram.