Women in Veterinary Medicine: Why more women doesn’t equal more equality
In the past 5 years we've seen more women entering the profession. The veterinary field is now overwhelmingly made up of female professionals.
Male 31%
(*-10)
Female 68%
(*+8)
*change vs. 2016
Source: VetsSurvey 2020; c.5000 veterinarians surveyed in Q4 2020; VS8 Considering the pandemic and its effect, what are your long term career aspirations?; QRole - Which of the following best describes your current role?
The fact that female veterinarians now outnumber male veterinarians at a rate of more than two to one is often lauded as a success for female inclusion in STEM.
Career prospects are still held back
Reflecting the situation for women in many other industries, the ambition for and attainment of, owner partner roles is still higher among men.
In short open-ended interviews with some of our Vetspanel members we hear that women are not encouraged to go for owner partner roles. In some cases, motherhood was given as a reason for lack of promotion.
“The sexism in our industry is phenomenal and so blatant. No other industry is this male dominated. I have been told in my career to have an abortion when I was pregnant as it would hinder my career, been told I would have been made a partner but I was the wrong sex and told I couldn’t be a specialist and have children.”
With much higher proportions of women entering the profession we’d expect to see some levelling out of the balance of owner/partner positions held by men. However, even among the very youngest groups of veterinarians we are still seeing a higher level of owner partners among men than women.
Across vets of all ages, female vets are more likely to want to remain an employed vet, whilst male vets are more likely to have the ambition to become an owner/partner:
Remain an employed vet
Male 42% Female 54%
Become an owner / partner
Male 23% Female 17%
At every age, a higher proportion of male vets have become owner partners vs. female vets:
Source: VetsSurvey 2020; c 5000 veterinarians surveyed in Q4 2020; VS8. Considering the pandemic and its effect, what are your long-term career aspirations?; QRole - Which of the following describes your current role?
Levels of stress, burnout and compassion fatigue are higher among women than men
Differences in stress, burnout & compassion fatigue
Split by gender
Source: VetsSurvey 2020 | VS5. How stressed are you? | VS7. To what extent would you say you are currently experiencing… Burnout Compassion fatigue?
This is unsurprising. Women are still expected to be the main caregivers if they choose to have children; plus continue to take on a higher load of emotional labour both in and out of work. Despite the number of women in the industry the continued management of practices managed by men, combined with the nature of clinic work, we do not yet see any sustainable shift to more flexible working practices.
Of course, this doesn’t mean to say working as a veterinarian isn’t stressful for men in the industry. In fact, it seems that age is also highly correlated with stress levels; younger veterinarians are more stressed, and stress levels decrease with age regardless on gender (though women continue to report higher levels of stress).
Stress levels by age & gender
Global figures
% very stressed
Source: VetsSurvey 2020 | VS5. How stressed are you?
The gender pay gap is almost non-existent for graduate veterinarians, but this isn’t necessarily good news
The pay gap among recent graduates is almost non-existent, but after about 2015 the gap widens rapidly, with the biggest gap in salary around the beginning of major corporatisation in the UK (2003 onwards)
Median salary by year of entry to veterinary profession
UK, 4 year rolling average
Source: VetsSurvey 2018 | Q39_2" Which year did you start working in the veterinary profession? How much do you earn per year before taxes (in your local currency)?
However, this is likely due to three reasons, none of which have anything to do with equality.
Corporate practices tend to have much more transparent and standardised salaries than independents. Whilst this in itself is a good thing, corporatisation brings with it a perceived ceiling to salaries which has been suggested as one of the reasons why the veterinary industry has become more female.
Men are more likely to expect higher salaries, and therefore graduate towards STEM careers that pay more. Therefore, high corporatisation rates may in part encourage men away from a veterinary career, but not women. Or, to put it as a vet friend of mine did this weekend:
“It’s the loss of the old school model of vet (typically man) buys practice, or buys in to practice partnership, practice grows, practice owner or partners take home good salary and then sell business to fund retirement. This sale used to be to the new associate to allow them to grow their career. But now, corporate companies are always able to out compete what associates could pay and so the model of starting out as an associate and becoming a practice owner has become almost obsolete as no one can afford to buy a practice.”
Finally, and most depressingly, the veterinary industry seems to add another industry datapoint to the theory that when an industry starts (for any reason) to become more female its perceived value, and therefore salary level, drops. This also works the other way round; as soon as computing became something done by men, rather than a menial job carried out most by women, salaries shot up.
Socialised gender norms are apparent in what veterinarians are taught to value
I’m strongly of the opinion that many of the priorities we exhibit in adult life are as a result of rampant socialisation that tells boys and girls what they are expected to like and do.
Whether you share my opinion or believe gender differences are purely biological, it’s clear to see that those differences exist, regardless of how we each choose to interpret them.
When asked what would make the most positive difference to the future of veterinary medicine, female veterinarians were more likely to focus on attitudes and services, whereas men were more likely to consider clinical and technological factors.
What would make the most positive difference to the future of veterinary medicine?
Future areas that women mention significantly more than men
Changing attitudes to animal health & welfare
Male 42% Female 55%
Pet owners further valuing the veterinary services they receive
Male 38% Female 56%
Less pressure on vets
Male 21% Female 36%
Future areas that men mention significantly more than women
New drugs & treatment
Male 46% Female 41%
Technical advances
Male 40% Female 30%
Increased specialisation
Male 34% Female 27%
Source: VetsSurvey 2020; c.5000 veterinarians surveyed in Q4 2020; VS3: What would make the most positive difference to the future of veterinary medicine?
