Gender differences in dentists’ working practices and job satisfaction

Abstract

Objectives

To describe the working practices and level of job satisfaction of male and female dentists.

Methods

A nationwide postal survey of all dentists holding an annual practising certificate in New Zealand (response rate 78.1%).

Results

The mean number of hours worked per week was 29.1 for female and 36.0 for male dentists. The main reason for part-time practice given by women was caring for children (cited by 67.2%) and for men was personal choice (cited by 63.6%). A greater proportion of females than males were employed on a salary or as an associate in practice rather than owning their own practice. Male dentists were more active in continuing education than females. The mean career satisfaction score for male respondents was 7.6 and for females 7.1 (P < 0.001). Relatively more women than men had taken a career break, usually for child rearing. Two-thirds of women and one-third of men planned to retire from dentistry before 60 years of age.

Conclusions

Male and female dentists differ in their working patterns and career satisfaction. There is a need for ongoing monitoring of the workforce, particularly as the gender distribution (and societal trends and expectations) continues to change.

Introduction

In most industrialised countries,1, 2, 3, 4 there has been a steady increase in the proportion of women in the dentist workforce over the last 25 years. This is likely to have impacted on the profession's productivity, as female dentists tend to work fewer hours per week than male dentists.2, 3, 4 Furthermore, a larger proportion of females than males take career breaks, with women taking longer breaks (up to several years). Such breaks tend to be followed by lower working hours upon returning to practice,5, 6, 7 and some women experience difficulties upon their return.⁷ Female dentists have also been found to retire earlier than male dentists, on average.⁸ However, much has changed in recent years with regard to women in the general workforce. Childcare is more readily available and increasing numbers of mothers are returning to work while their children are young. Concomitantly, men are playing an increasingly large role in family life, and many are involved in childcare on a day-to-day basis. The extent to which such social changes are impacting on the dental profession is not known.

As the proportion of women in the profession continues to increase, there is a need to monitor the differences in working patterns between male and female dentists, and to be aware of their dental workforce implications. Although child rearing is an important factor, there are other areas to consider, such as breadwinner status and job satisfaction. While there has been an interest in gender issues in the dental workforce, there have been limitations to previous studies, in that some considered women only, without comparison to their male colleagues,6, 7, 9, 10 and others had low response rates (which somewhat compromise their usefulness).5, 11

The aim of this study was to describe and compare the working practices and job satisfaction of a representative sample of male and female dentists.