Cargando…

#MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment

INTRODUCTION: Gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment of female physicians are well documented. The #MeToo movement has brought renewed attention to these problems. This study examined academic emergency physicians’ experiences with workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment. ME...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Lu, Dave W., Lall, Michelle D., Mitzman, Jennifer, Heron, Sheryl, Pierce, Ava, Hartman, Nicholas D., McCarthy, Danielle M., Jauregui, Joshua, Strout, Tania D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7081862/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32191183
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2019.11.44592
_version_ 1783508247226875904
author Lu, Dave W.
Lall, Michelle D.
Mitzman, Jennifer
Heron, Sheryl
Pierce, Ava
Hartman, Nicholas D.
McCarthy, Danielle M.
Jauregui, Joshua
Strout, Tania D.
author_facet Lu, Dave W.
Lall, Michelle D.
Mitzman, Jennifer
Heron, Sheryl
Pierce, Ava
Hartman, Nicholas D.
McCarthy, Danielle M.
Jauregui, Joshua
Strout, Tania D.
author_sort Lu, Dave W.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment of female physicians are well documented. The #MeToo movement has brought renewed attention to these problems. This study examined academic emergency physicians’ experiences with workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of emergency medicine (EM) faculty across six programs. Survey items included the following: the Overt Gender Discrimination at Work (OGDW) Scale; the frequency and source of experienced and observed discrimination; and whether subjects had encountered unwanted sexual behaviors by a work superior or colleague in their careers. For the latter question, we asked subjects to characterize the behaviors and whether those experiences had a negative effect on their self-confidence and career advancement. We made group comparisons using t-tests or chi-square analyses, and evaluated relationships between gender and physicians’ experiences using correlation analyses. RESULTS: A total of 141 out of 352 (40.1%) subjects completed at least a portion of the survey. Women reported higher mean OGDW scores than men (15.4 vs 10.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.6–6.8). Female faculty were also more likely to report having experienced gender-based discriminatory treatment than male faculty (62.7% vs 12.5%; 95% CI, 35.1%–65.4%), although male and female faculty were equally likely to report having observed gender-based discriminatory treatment of another physician (64.7% vs 56.3%; 95% CI, 8.6%–25.5%). The three most frequent sources of experienced or observed gender-based discriminatory treatment were patients, consulting or admitting physicians, and nursing staff. The majority of women reported having encountered unwanted sexual behaviors in their careers, with a significantly greater proportion of women reporting them compared to men (52.9% vs 26.2%, 95% CI, 9.9%–43.4%). The majority of unwanted behaviors were sexist remarks and sexual advances. Of those respondents who encountered these unwanted behaviors, 22.9% and 12.5% reported at least somewhat negative effects on their self-confidence and career advancement. CONCLUSION: Female EM faculty perceived more gender-based discrimination in their workplaces than their male counterparts. The majority of female and approximately a quarter of male EM faculty encountered unwanted sexual behaviors in their careers.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7081862
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2020
publisher Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-70818622020-03-24 #MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Lu, Dave W. Lall, Michelle D. Mitzman, Jennifer Heron, Sheryl Pierce, Ava Hartman, Nicholas D. McCarthy, Danielle M. Jauregui, Joshua Strout, Tania D. West J Emerg Med Provider Workforce INTRODUCTION: Gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment of female physicians are well documented. The #MeToo movement has brought renewed attention to these problems. This study examined academic emergency physicians’ experiences with workplace gender discrimination and sexual harassment. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of emergency medicine (EM) faculty across six programs. Survey items included the following: the Overt Gender Discrimination at Work (OGDW) Scale; the frequency and source of experienced and observed discrimination; and whether subjects had encountered unwanted sexual behaviors by a work superior or colleague in their careers. For the latter question, we asked subjects to characterize the behaviors and whether those experiences had a negative effect on their self-confidence and career advancement. We made group comparisons using t-tests or chi-square analyses, and evaluated relationships between gender and physicians’ experiences using correlation analyses. RESULTS: A total of 141 out of 352 (40.1%) subjects completed at least a portion of the survey. Women reported higher mean OGDW scores than men (15.4 vs 10.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.6–6.8). Female faculty were also more likely to report having experienced gender-based discriminatory treatment than male faculty (62.7% vs 12.5%; 95% CI, 35.1%–65.4%), although male and female faculty were equally likely to report having observed gender-based discriminatory treatment of another physician (64.7% vs 56.3%; 95% CI, 8.6%–25.5%). The three most frequent sources of experienced or observed gender-based discriminatory treatment were patients, consulting or admitting physicians, and nursing staff. The majority of women reported having encountered unwanted sexual behaviors in their careers, with a significantly greater proportion of women reporting them compared to men (52.9% vs 26.2%, 95% CI, 9.9%–43.4%). The majority of unwanted behaviors were sexist remarks and sexual advances. Of those respondents who encountered these unwanted behaviors, 22.9% and 12.5% reported at least somewhat negative effects on their self-confidence and career advancement. CONCLUSION: Female EM faculty perceived more gender-based discrimination in their workplaces than their male counterparts. The majority of female and approximately a quarter of male EM faculty encountered unwanted sexual behaviors in their careers. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2020-03 2020-02-21 /pmc/articles/PMC7081862/ /pubmed/32191183 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2019.11.44592 Text en Copyright: © 2020 Lu et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
spellingShingle Provider Workforce
Lu, Dave W.
Lall, Michelle D.
Mitzman, Jennifer
Heron, Sheryl
Pierce, Ava
Hartman, Nicholas D.
McCarthy, Danielle M.
Jauregui, Joshua
Strout, Tania D.
#MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
title #MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
title_full #MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
title_fullStr #MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
title_full_unstemmed #MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
title_short #MeToo in EM: A Multicenter Survey of Academic Emergency Medicine Faculty on Their Experiences with Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
title_sort #metoo in em: a multicenter survey of academic emergency medicine faculty on their experiences with gender discrimination and sexual harassment
topic Provider Workforce
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7081862/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32191183
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2019.11.44592
work_keys_str_mv AT ludavew metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT lallmichelled metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT mitzmanjennifer metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT heronsheryl metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT pierceava metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT hartmannicholasd metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT mccarthydaniellem metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT jaureguijoshua metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment
AT strouttaniad metooinemamulticentersurveyofacademicemergencymedicinefacultyontheirexperienceswithgenderdiscriminationandsexualharassment