Trends of the Gender Pay Gap among Public Sector Doctors in the UK

Empirical chapter 1 of PhD thesis

Abstract: Using data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2021, the research makes a unique contribution to the recent literature on within-occupation gender pay gaps by examining the changes in the gender pay gap among public sector doctors as a gender-balanced, highly skilled and paid occupation within the public sector which, despite high degrees of pay centralisation and transparency, faces a wider gender pay gap relative to the UK. The findings evidence the gender pay gap to have followed widening and narrowing trends over the period, both of which were largely driven by changes in doctors’ pay structures and demographic changes. Most importantly, the evidence highlights that changes in the pay structures of doctors have the potential to both hinder the positive and exacerbate the negative influences of demographic changes on the changes in the gender pay gap within the occupation. The analysis therefore reinforces the adverse consequences to women’s wages of pay structures which highly reward time served with pay progression.

Data: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (secure ONS data)

Link to Key Findings: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f8mfioZbHecWV4TYab-GAC0a4RNraDJo/view?usp=sharing

Gender Pay Gaps in Highly Skilled Professional Occupations

Empirical chapter 2 of PhD thesis

Abstract: The chapter investigates the evolution of the gender pay gap among public sector doctors in the UK by situating it within broader labour market trends. Motivated by concerns over the persistent and wide gender pay gap in medicine, the analysis aims to determine whether the occupation’s experience aligns with, or diverges from, broader trends among UK employees, public sector workers, and other high-skilled professional occupations, including private sector doctors. The findings highlight that while gender pay gaps have narrowed significantly among most groups, progress has been more limited for public sector doctors. Unlike other groups, where pay structures and unmeasured factors reinforced the narrowing of the gap, women in public sector medicine faced increasing disadvantages due to a worsening relative ranking in the male residual wage distribution. Despite shared trends of female representation, this effect, which suggests that unmeasured characteristics became increasingly detrimental to women's pay, was not observed among other professional occupations or among private sector doctors. The results underscore that while the UK labour market has seen general progress in gender pay equality, public sector medicine remains a notable exception, with institutional and structural barriers limiting the impact of improvements in women’s observed characteristics.

Data: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (secure ONS data)

Link to Key Findings: forthcoming.

Gender Gaps in Wage Growth along Doctors' Careers

Empirical chapter 3 of PhD thesis

Abstract: Coming soon ... Analysing data and doing all the fun stuff in-between!

Broadly - Labour economics, applied microeconomics, micro-econometrics.

• UK productivity puzzle and the Wales productivity gap.

• Pay disparities within high-skilled occupations. Relatedly — pay centralisation, pay structures & the gender pay gap.

• Pay progression and wage growth.

• Education, skills, and health outcomes.