Pharmacists' earnings determinants: differences by ethnic group

Is Pharmacy a Friendly Profession for Everyone in the U.S.? A Probe into Gender and Other Income Disparities

The literature shows that women persistently earn less than men for similar roles and qualifications; yet, pharmacy has been portrayed as an egalitarian profession, with a small gender earnings gap relative to other occupations. There is a lack of recent studies, and some evidence suggests a significant gender gap when earnings are estimated separately for male and female pharmacists. This study compared the nature and magnitude of gender income disparities using two alternative methodological procedures and evaluated the evidence for policy implications. The study was based on 2019-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. The sample consisted of 12,450 pharmacists (61.5% women) ages 25-64 years practicing in the U.S. Ordinary least-squares models calculated pharmacist annual incomes as functions of work input, human-capital, and job-related covariates. Results estimated a gender earnings gap of up to 18.6%. Differences across sociodemographic groups suggested that pharmacy is only friendly to selected segments of the profession. The empirical evidence reported here is expected to be used by healthcare managers and policymakers to inform ongoing discussion regarding the need for policy changes and cultural shifts to promote gender equity.

Intersectionality of the Gender Wage Gap Among Healthcare Professionals: A Scoping Review

Background: A growing body of research has documented persistent wage gaps between women and men in the healthcare workforce, a pattern widely observed across cadres and countries. Less well known is whether various intersecting characteristics often associated with social discrimination may exacerbate or attenuate gendered disparities. This review scopes contemporary research from diverse settings focusing on how race, ethnicity, and sexual and gender minority status may intersect in shaping earnings differentials among healthcare practitioners to help inform policy and management decisions. Methods: Studies quantifying the intersecting axes of gender and other postulated social drivers of differed practitioner earnings were identified by systematically searching five bibliographic databases (Embase, CINAHL, EconLit, SocIndex, and PsychInfo) and scanning the reference lists of review articles and other forms of the global health literature. A total of 2123 reports were retrieved; after screening, 21 articles were retained for narrative synthesis. Results: The studies covered data from four countries (Brazil, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Physicians were researched most often (43% of the synthesized articles) followed by nurses (38%). No uniform patterns were found in gendered earnings variations stratified by race, ethnicity, and/or ancestry; however, wide variations were seen in the way the relationships were operationalized across studies and contexts. One investigation included sexual orientation as a factor in earnings gaps, but presented results combined with other personal characteristics. None of the studies examined wage data by gender minority status. Conclusions: This review highlighted notable limitations in the available research in relation to disaggregated measures of ethnocultural heterogeneity, robust methodologies and transparent reporting, and the underlying health workforce information systems for incorporating more diversity elements and enhancing cross-national comparability in assessments of structural wage gaps among healthcare practitioners.

Factors affecting community pharmacist work: A scoping review and thematic synthesis using role theory

Many community pharmacists ideologically support recent changes to their roles in primary healthcare. However, their antithetical resistance towards practice change could have systemic causes (i.e. role stresses), which may account for increased job dissatisfaction, burnout, and job turnover in the profession. Deeper comprehension was sought using a role theory framework.

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors leading to role stresses and strain responses for community pharmacists, and to create a framework for community pharmacist role management.

METHOD

PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched for qualitative studies identifying community pharmacist role stress and strain using scoping review methodology from 1990 to 2019. Content and thematic analysis using the framework method was performed, and themes were reported using thematic synthesis.

RESULTS

Screening of 10,880 records resulted in 33 studies identified, with 41 factors categorised into four domains: Interpersonal Interactions, Social Setting, Individual Attributes, and Extra-Role. All role stresses were present. Reported role strains suggest role system imbalance.

CONCLUSION

Community pharmacists are in a multifactorial transitional environment. Reported role stresses may be a function of past pharmacist roles and increased role expectations, amplified by many requisite interactions and individual pharmacist characteristics. Social science theories were found to be applicable to the community pharmacy setting.

A theoretical framework for the interpretation of pharmacist workforce studies throughout the world: The labor supply curve

Despite geographic, financial, and cultural diversity, publications dealing with the pharmacist workforce throughout the world share common concerns and focus on similar topics. Their findings are presented in the literature in a seemingly unrelated way even though they are connected to one another as parts of a comprehensive theoretical structure. The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that relates some of the most salient topics addressed in the international literature on pharmacist workforce. The model is developed along two fundamental ideas. The first identifies the shape and location of the pharmacist's labor supply curve as the driving force behind all workforce decisions undertaken by pharmacists; the second argues that gender and age differences are two of the most important factors determining the shape and location of this supply curve. The paper then discusses movements along the curve attributed to changes in the wage rate, as well as displacements of the curve attributed to disparities in personal characteristics, investments in human capital, job-related preferences, opinions and perceptions, and institutional rigidities. The focus is on the individual pharmacist, not on groups of pharmacists or the profession as a whole. Works in multiple countries that address each topic are identified. Understanding these considerations is critical as employers' failure to accommodate pharmacists' preferences for work and leisure are associated with negative consequences not only for them but also for the healthcare system as a whole. Possible consequences include excessive job turnover, absenteeism, decreased institutional commitment, and lower quality of work.

Pharmacists' wages and salaries: The part-time versus full-time dichotomy

BACKGROUND

Recent years have seen significant growth in part-time work among pharmacy personnel. If preferences and outlooks of part-time and full-time workers differ, job-related incentives may not have the same effect on both groups; different management practices may be necessary to cope with rapidly evolving workforces.

OBJECTIVE

To compare wage-and-salary responses to the number of hours worked, human-capital stock, and job-related preferences between full-time and part-time pharmacists. The analysis focused on the pharmacist workforce because, unlike other professions, remuneration is fairly linear with respect to the amount of time worked.

METHODS

Data were collected from a self-reported survey of licensed pharmacists in southern Florida (U.S. State). The sample consisted of 979 full-time and 254 part-time respondents. Using ordinary least squares, a model estimated, separately for full-time and part-time pharmacists, annual wage-and-salary earnings as functions of average workweek, human-capital stock, and job-related preferences.

RESULTS

Practitioners working less than 36 h/week were driven almost exclusively by pay, whereas practitioners working 36 h or more exhibited a more comprehensive approach to their work experience that included variables beyond monetary remuneration.

CONCLUSION

Managing part-time pharmacists calls for emphasis on wage-and-salary issues. Job-security and gender- and children-related concerns, such as flexibility, should be oriented toward full-time practitioners.

The life-cycle argument: age as a mediator of pharmacists' earnings

BACKGROUND

Age diversity poses challenges to pharmacy employers and managers. A life-cycle argument has been presented to explain pharmacists' age-related differences at work.

OBJECTIVES

Explore responses of pharmacists' wage-and-salary earnings in three age groups (younger than 40, 40-54 years, and 55 years plus) to labor input and human-capital variables.

METHODS

A survey questionnaire was mailed to registered pharmacists in South Florida, USA. An earnings function was formulated and tested, using ordinary least squares, for each age group separately to compare the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of each determinant on earnings. The covariates were number of hours worked, type of pharmacy degree, years of professional experience, gender, number of children, and whether the pharmacist had completed a residency and/or attained a specialty board certification.

RESULTS

The model showed better fit and statistical significance for practitioners under 40 and 55 years or older. The number of hours worked was the overwhelming determinant, but the magnitude of its influence was different for the three age groups. Human-capital indicators provided evidence in support of the life-cycle argument.

CONCLUSION

The wage-and-salary earnings of pharmacy practitioners were mediated by age group in their response to labor input and human-capital variables.