Women veterinarians earn $100,000 less than men each year, study finds

Women veterinarians make less than their male counterparts, with an annual difference of about $100,000 among the top quarter of earners, new research shows.

The disparity predominantly affects recent graduates and the top half of earners, according to the study from Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

It’s difficult to determine the reasons for the earning inequality, but potential factors are unconscious bias, size of practices, less external financing and societal expectations, researchers said.

The study also found that while partnerships tend to be more beneficial for women’s income earning potential than sole proprietorships, any form of ownership benefits men’s incomes. Men were found to move into higher income brackets at lower levels of experience than women.

“Similar to what’s been found in the human medicine world, we found the wage gap was more prominent in the beginning of their careers but dissipates after about 25 years,” said Dr. Clinton Neill, the paper’s senior author. “This has large implications for lifetime wealth and earnings, as men will consequently have a larger sum of wealth at the end of their careers because of this.”

Researchers said measures such as industrywide transparency could help close the gap.