Equal Pay Day falls on March 26th this year. And it’s not just a symbolic date on the calendar. It marks how far into the new year women must work to earn what men earned the previous year. And in healthcare, the gap isn’t closing. It’s growing.
I was honored to join WBEZ Chicago’s Say More with Mary Dixon & Patrick Smith to talk about exactly that.
Despite real progress in many areas, women in healthcare still take home roughly 25% less than their male counterparts. That number is jarring. Especially in a field where women make up the majority of the workforce. The pay gap isn’t an abstraction. It affects retirement security, career longevity, mental health, and whether talented women stay in medicine at all.
On the show, we talked about what’s driving the disparity, how women can navigate pay conversations with more confidence and strategy, and what systemic change actually needs to look like. Not just for individual negotiators, but for institutions, departments, and hospital systems.
This work is deeply personal to me. It’s part of why I founded Women in Medicine® . Because advocacy, community, and data are how we close gaps like this one. Our VERITAS Research Lab exists precisely to put evidence behind what so many women already know from lived experience.
If you missed the episode, you can listen here: 👉 Mind the (Pay) Gap — WBEZ Chicago
And if this resonates with you — whether you’re a woman navigating your own pay situation or a leader who wants to do better — I’d love to hear from you. The conversation doesn’t stop on Equal Pay Day.
