Women family physicians’ working conditions and career satisfaction: a multinational study

Abstract

Abstract Background As the proportion of women in family medicine increases, their well-being and job satisfaction become concerns. Objectives This study aimed to uncover the working conditions and career satisfaction of women family physicians across multiple countries. Methods A cross-sectional survey of the WONCA Working Party on Women and Family Medicine listserv members to assess working conditions and career satisfaction, with snowballing recruitment. Aspects of physician job satisfaction were measured using the validated Physician Work-Life Survey and calculated as the sum of the scores of each positive item divided by the total number of questions and multiplied by 10. The association between satisfaction and the continent and the country income level was performed using a one-way ANOVA test (P < 0.05). Results A total of 315 participants across 49 countries responded to the survey with 205 complete responses. Women family physicians reported high overall career satisfaction (8.2 ± 2.3) but were less satisfied with some aspects of their career such as pay (5.3 ± 3.4), personal time (3.5 ± 2.6), and administrative tasks (3.2 ± 3.7). Despite the widespread experience of sexism at work, satisfaction with personal career aspects was universal at the continent and income level, while satisfaction with other career aspects relevant to relationships in work environment and resources varied. Conclusion Women family physicians around the world are overall satisfied with their careers. However, variation in certain working conditions among countries leaves room for improvement, drawing attention to the need for national review of working environments and pay scales.