Attitudes and factors affecting the decisions of men and women pediatrics residents toward having children during their residencies

Abstract

This study examines attitudes and factors affecting the decisions of pediatrics residents of both sexes toward having children during their residencies. In 1987, the authors surveyed by mail all 742 pediatricians who had trained at eight university-based residencies from 1981 to 1987; 417 responded. Of these, the men were significantly more likely than the women to have had children during their residencies (p less than .001). At the time of their residencies, 265 of these pediatricians were married. Of those who were married but did not have children during their residencies (175), the women were significantly more likely than the men to believe that having a child during residency would have had a negative influence on their careers (p less than .001) and would have been associated with difficulties in arranging child care (p less than .001). By contrast, among those pediatricians who were married and did have children during their residencies (90), their perceptions concerning the impacts on their careers of having children and the difficulty in arranging child care did not differ significantly by gender. The authors suggest that programs might explore the possibilities of greater flexibility in scheduling and of making child care more available so that residents could more easily combine their careers with having children.