Comparing Physician Experiences of Workplace Bullying by Gender

• In Event: 256 - Section on Organizations, Occupations and Work Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 18. Work and Well-Being

Abstract

Continuing gender disparities within the medical profession raise concerns about the extent to which women physicians face an inhospitable work environment. This research compared frequencies and outcomes of workplace bullying by gender among family physicians using data generated by a Council of Academic Family Medicine's Educational Research Alliance (CERA) omnibus survey. Respondents completed questions online addressing their socio-demographic and practice characteristics, general experience with bullying, thirty particular types of bullying, and thirteen possible reactions. One in ten acknowledged that they had bullied; three in ten reported that they had experienced being bullied. Overall, women physicians were more likely to experience bullying than their male counterparts and reported greater intensity of bullying (repeated instances of the same type of occurrence). While some gender differences appeared in individual actions taken, outcomes and career effects were similar for males and females. Wider recognition of the prevalence and results of bullying is needed to prompt change in the medical workplace.

Author

• Linda P. Rouse, University of Texas-Arlington