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Academic disparities and health: How gender-based disparities in schools relate to boys' and girls' health.

ABSTRACT: RATIONALE:Recent research reveals that, although girls encounter some barriers in school (e.g., in science and math), on balance, boys perform worse academically. Moreover, other research has identified a correlation between exposure to a context characterized by large disparities in performance or resources and a range of negative outcomes, including negative health and well-being, among members of lower status groups. OBJECTIVE:Building on these literatures, the present research tests the relationship between gender disparities in academic performance within a school and students' health outcomes. Specifically, we investigated whether boys had worse health when they attended schools where there was a greater disparity between boys' and girls' academic performance. METHOD:We tested this hypothesis in two different samples with different health outcomes. In a sample of healthy eighth graders (Study 1; 159 girls and 81 boys), we assessed two indices of metabolic syndrome, and in a sample of children with asthma (Study 2; 122 girls and 153 boys), we assessed immune function (Th1 and Th2 cytokine production) and self-reported symptoms. Participants in both samples also reported the name of the school that they attended so that we could access publicly available information about the percentage of girls and the percentage of boys in each school who met expectations for their grade level on standardized tests. RESULTS:In both samples, the greater the gap in a school between the percentage of girls and the percentage of boys who met expectations for their grade level on standardized tests, the worse boys' health. This pattern did not emerge among girls. CONCLUSION:Results thus highlight the negative health correlates of academic disparities among members of lower-performing groups.

SUBMITTER: Levine CS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6744256 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Academic disparities and health: How gender-based disparities in schools relate to boys' and girls' health.

Levine Cynthia S CS Miller Gregory E GE Shalowitz Madeleine U MU Story Rachel E RE Manczak Erika M EM Hayen Robin R Hoffer Lauren C LC Le Van V Vause Katherine J KJ Chen Edith E

Social science & medicine (1982) 20190301

<h4>Rationale</h4>Recent research reveals that, although girls encounter some barriers in school (e.g., in science and math), on balance, boys perform worse academically. Moreover, other research has identified a correlation between exposure to a context characterized by large disparities in performance or resources and a range of negative outcomes, including negative health and well-being, among members of lower status groups.<h4>Objective</h4>Building on these literatures, the present research ...[more]

PMID: 30909156

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Project description:ImportanceGender-based disparities in compensation in academic medicine are recognized, but their estimated impacts on early career earning potential and strategies to mitigate them have not been well studied.ObjectivesTo compare earning potential between female and male academic physicians in the first 10 years of posttraining employment and to evaluate the estimated impact of promotion timing, starting salary, and salary growth rate on earning potential.Design, setting, and participantsUsing publicly available mean debt and compensation data for full-time employed academic physicians in the US from 2019 to 2020, starting salary, salary in year 10 of employment, annual salary growth rate, and overall earning potential in the first 10 years of employment were estimated for each gender by subspecialty. The estimated impacts of promotion timing and potential interventions, including equalizing starting salaries and annual salary growth rates, were modeled. Data analysis was performed from March to May 2021.ExposuresGender and subspecialty.Main outcomes and measuresStarting salary, annual salary growth rate, year-10 salary, and earning potential in first 10 years of employment.ResultsThis cross-sectional study included compensation data from 24 593 female and 29 886 male academic physicians across 45 subspecialties. Women had lower starting salaries in 42 of 45 subspecialties (93%), year-10 salaries in 43 of 45 subspecialties (96%), mean annual salary growth rates in 22 of 45 subspecialties (49%), and earning potential in 43 of 45 subspecialties (96%) (median [IQR], $214 440 [$130 423-$384 954], or 10%, less). A 1-year delay in promotion from assistant to associate professor reduced women's earning potential by a median (IQR) of $26 042 ($19 672-$35 671), but failure to be promoted at all reduced it by a median (IQR) of $218 724 ($176 317-$284 466). Equalizing starting salaries could increase women's earning potential by a median (IQR) of $250 075 ($161 299-$381 799) in the subspecialties for which starting salaries for women were lower than those for men. Equalizing annual salary growth rates could increase women's earning potential by a median (IQR) of $53 661 ($24 258-$102 892) in the subspecialties for which mean annual salary growth rates were lower for women than for men.Conclusions and relevanceThe findings of this study suggest that gender-based disparities in starting salary and early career earning potential are pervasive in academic medicine in the US. Equalizing starting salaries would address the majority of the differences in earning potential.

Project description:Puberty is marked by substantial increases and emerging sex differences in psychological disorders and risky behaviors. However, few studies have examined these effects beyond adolescence, and the previous literature has been dominated by samples of White girls. The current study examines the broadest known set of health sequelae related to traditional pubertal markers and peer-relative pubertal timing in a representative sample of 14,545 U.S. youth from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Maturational timing was assessed by age at menarche for girls and physical development for boys (e.g., facial hair, voice change), and then categorized as early (1 SD below mean), on-time, or late (1 SD above mean) within-sex. Early and late peer-relative timing was assessed by a self-report of looking "much older" or "much younger" than one's peers. We examined psychological (depressive symptoms, antisocial behavior), behavioral (number of sex partners, drug use, physical activity, screen time, sleep hours), and physical health (self-reported health, BMI) outcomes during adolescence and young adulthood in a series of sex-stratified regression analyses using survey weights and a comprehensive set of sociodemographic covariates. Results indicated that, overall, earlier pubertal timing (i.e., maturational timing and peer-relative timing) put both girls and boys at risk during adolescence, while later timing was protective. However, longitudinal models revealed mixed results. For instance, early maturational timing was associated with higher young adult BMI (girls: β = 0.139, p < .01; boys: β = 0.107, p < .01), but later timing for boys was associated with both risky (e.g., more screen time; β = 0.125, p < .05) and health promoting (e.g., more sleep; β = .296, p < .01) behaviors. Analysis of this holistic set of outcomes with sex differences in mind allows for more careful evidence-based recommendations for adolescent health promotion.

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Academic disparities and health: How gender-based disparities in schools relate to boys' and girls' health.

Publications

Academic disparities and health: How gender-based disparities in schools relate to boys' and girls' health.

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