Results of a gender-climate and work-environment survey at a midwestern academic health center

Purpose. To determine how faculty's perceptions of medical school gender cl imate differ by gender, track, rank, and departmental affiliation. Method. In 1997, a 115-item questionnaire was sent to all University of Wis consin Medical School faculty to assess their perceptions of mentoring, net working, professional environment, obstacles to a successful academic caree r, and reasons for considering leaving academic medicine. Using Fisher's ex act two-tailed test, the authors assessed gender differences both overall a nd by track, rank, and departmental cluster. Results. Of the 836 faculty on tenure, clinician-educator, and clinical tra cks, 507 (61%) responded. Although equal proportions of men and women had m entors, 24% of the women (compared with 6% of men; p < .001) felt that info rmal networking excluded faculty based on gender. Women's and men's percept ions differed significantly (p < .001) on 12 of 16 professional environment items (p < .05 on two of these items) and on five of six items regarding o bstacles to academic success. While similar percentages of women and men in dicated having seriously considered leaving academic medicine, their reason s differed: women cited work-family conflicts (51%), while men cited uncomp etitive salaries (59%). These gender differences generally persisted across tracks, ranks, and departmental clusters. The greatest gender differences occurred among clinician-educators, associate professors, and primary care faculty. Conclusions. Women faculty perceived that gender climate created specific, serious obstacles to their professional development. Many of those obstacle s (e.g., inconvenient meeting times and lack of child care) are remediable. These data suggest that medical schools can improve the climate and retain and promote women by more inclusive networking, attention to meeting times and child care, and improved professional interactions between men and wom en faculty.