Use human resources information systems (HRIS) and special studies to analyze sex-disaggregated data about and the health workforce. Analyze the data to assess whether wage discrimination is affecting the health workforce in your context.

Suggested data analyses

• Gender concentration within individual pay groups

Women and men may receive different wages due to gender discrimination, even when they are performing the same work and have similar qualifications and abilities.

In the figure below from the analysis of human resources information systems (HRIS) data in Uganda, male health workers are concentrated in the jobs at the highest pay grades towards the right, and female health workers are concentrated in the jobs at the lowest pay grades, towards the left.

Percentage of Men and Women by Pay Grade, Public Health Sector in 12 Sites, Uganda 2012 (N=6,450)

What could be the reasons for these differences?

• Are there gender stereotypes that result in more male health workers hired and promoted to specialized leadership and management positions, with the expectation that they be “breadwinners?”
• Are there personal biases of human resources managers that reduce payment for female workers in same positions as male workers, assuming “lower productivity” or other reasons?
• Do pregnancy and family responsibilities prevent female health workers from pursuing more specialized leadership and management positions?

Country examples

• Kenya: An assessment of health training institutions found that female nursing faculty are more heavily concentrated in lower-paying positions, even though the nursing workforce is primarily female.
• Uganda: A review of male and female health workers in the public sector health workforce at 12 representative sites found higher percentages of men in higher pay grades and higher percentages of women in lower pay grades.
• Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States: An analysis of labor force surveys for 18 countries with developed economies found that women’s incomes were generally lower than men’s incomes despite performing the same jobs. For example, in the United Kingdom, female doctors earned considerably less than their male counterparts.