Effect of gender on ownership and income in veterinary practice

Objective To estimate the effect of gender on ownership and income in veter inary practice in Australia. Methods Questionnaire completed by private veterinary practitioners, and an alysed using the SAS System for Windows 7.0. Results More than three-quarters (78%) of male but 36% of female private pr actitioners were partial or sole owners of practices. The median annual inc ome for all male practitioners working more than 40 hours/week was $70K, bu t that for females was $43K. These disparities existed in both city and cou ntry practices, and in the case of income it increased with increasing time in the workforce. Male practice owners also reported higher incomes than f emale owners. Conclusions Female veterinary practitioners are less likely to own practice s, and more likely to earn low incomes than males. These differentials do n ot appear to be due to location, hours worked or years since graduation or, in the case of income, to whether they are owners or employees. The eviden ce points to a lower interest by women than men in the business aspects of veterinary practice.