A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine explored the gender roles of career-oriented academic MDs in the workplace juxtaposed with domestic responsibilities. Dr. Jolly and colleagues hypothesized that by examining a specific cohort of younger physicians, more likely exposed to dual-income households, that there would be few, if any, differences in time spent on nonprofessional activities. The paper titled, “Gender Differences in Time Spent on Parenting and Domestic Responsibilities by High-Achieving Young Physician-Researchers,” is a survey study among 1049 physicians with a current affiliation to a U.S. academic institution and research role. These physicians were selected to participate in the survey based upon recent NIH grant awards of K08 and K23, between the years 2006 to 2009, thus lending to their higher commitment to career and sampling from the generation X pool. The average age of participants was 40.3, similar for women and men, with a range of 33-58. To analyze time spent on work and household they only compiled data from those who were married, or in a domestic partnership, with young children.
Overall, women spent 8.5 more hours per week on domestic and parenting activities than men after adjustments for work hours, spousal employment, and other factors. Men spent 12 hours less on parenting or domestic tasks and 7 hours longer at work per week on average. Women in the study were more likely to have partners who worked full-time at a rate of 85.6 percent compared to men at 44.9 percent. In a dramatic contrast, most men still had a traditional household and were four times more likely to have a spouse or domestic partner who worked part-time or not at all.
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