(Newswire.net — October 15, 2018) — It’s a profession that’s dominated by women, but male nurses still earn over $6,000 more per year than their female counterparts, according to a survey of more than 4,000 nurses.
The Nursing Salary Research Report included registered nurses from all 50 states.
Male registered nurses earn an average of $79,688, while their female counterparts earn $70,090. These figures come despite the fact that only 12% of nurses are walking around in male scrubs. Still, the trend is not surprising. Physicians and health IT professionals often see double-digit percentage differences between salaries of women and men.
Other research reports from HIMSS And Medscape show that male physicians earn nearly 18% more than their female counterparts. Male general physicians earn an average salary of $239,000, while women earn $203,000.
Men in specialties earned even more – 36% more than their female counterparts ($358,000 vs $263,000). That gap has widened from 31% the previous year.
Females in the health IT industry also earn less: $100,447 vs $123,244.
One important aspect to consider is that men are more likely to negotiate their salaries. About 43% of men answered “most of the time or always” when asked whether they negotiate their salaries. Only 34% of women negotiate their salaries. Lack of negotiation may contribute partly to the pay gap.
Gender pay inequality isn’t the only concern. Racial disparities also exist. According to Medscape, African-American physicians earned $50,000 less per year than white physicians. African American females earned nearly $100,000 les than their male counterparts.
Female and non-white health IT professionals are paid less than their peers.
According to Medscape, salaries are also based largely on location. Less populated states pay more. Doctors in the North Central area earned $319,000, while those in the Northeast earned $275,000.
The states with the highest-paid physicians are Oklahoma, Indiana and Connecticut. Maryland, Washington DC and New Mexico ranked the lowest when it came to salaries.
More than 20,000 physicians representing 29 specialty areas participated in Medscape’s survey.
Physician compensation as a whole increased across most specialties, but gender and racial inequalities still exist. Most specialties saw an increase, but psychiatrists saw a 16% increase. Physicians earned, on average, $299,999, up from $294,000 last year.
Specialists earned far more than general physicians – $100,000 more – at $329,000 per year. Plastic surgeons out-earned everyone, with most salaries reaching the $500,000 mark.
Family practice and pediatrician physicians earned the lowest salaries: $219,000 and $212,000 respectively.