Women’s career progress in ophthalmology hindered by poor mentorship, study finds
Key Takeaways
- Female ophthalmologists report lower satisfaction and poorer quality of mentorship compared with male peers.
- These mentorship disparities are linked to lower income, job satisfaction, and fewer achieved career goals among women.
- Improving mentorship quality for women could help reduce gender-based career outcome gaps in ophthalmology.
Gender disparities in mentorship among ophthalmologists contribute to significant differences in career outcomes between male and female ophthalmologists, according to a poster presented at the 2024 Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium.
Conducted through a web-based survey distributed to ophthalmologists and trainees, the study assessed mentorship quality and its impact on career aspects such as income, job satisfaction, and career goal achievement.
The survey garnered responses from 202 male and 245 female ophthalmologists. Findings indicate that female ophthalmologists report lower satisfaction with mentorship and perceive its quality to be significantly poorer compared to their male counterparts. These disparities correlate with lower income, reduced job satisfaction, and fewer achievements in career goals among women. The study also found that mentorship quality partly mediated the impact on all career outcomes, excluding income, with mediation effects ranging from 29% to 68%.
The study underscores the importance of targeted mentorship for women in ophthalmology to address and potentially mitigate these gender-based disparities in the field.
Reference
Chang M, et al. Gender disparities in mentorship and career outcomes in ophthalmology. Poster presented at: WIO 2024.
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