The “motherhood penalty” in the medical profession

In 2025, are women who have children so much more impacted in their careers than men? While the challenges for many working mothers are many, in medical professions, the challenges can be amplified because of the overlap between periods of early career development and the most fertile years.

Having children doesn’t just mean time out for maternity leave, but also prolonged periods of part-time work that can impact their visibility in the workplace and rate of career progression, what has been termed “the motherhood penalty.”

In a recent podcast, the The Royal Australasian College of Physicians explores this topic and speaks to two clinicians who have researched the role Government legislation and culture in the workplace and specialist Colleges.

Dr Jenny Proimos , a consultant paediatrician and adolescent health physician, said healthcare is well known for a ‘leaky pipeline.

The numbers present a stark picture. Despite filling more than half of places in Australian medical schools, women represent 45 per cent of all medical practitioners and just 36 per cent of specialists. These further declines further in many areas of clinical leadership.

Dr Proimos noted men have more capacity to do things that that increase their visibility in the workplace, such as conducting research and sitting on committees.

Associate Professor Kara Allen , specialist anaesthetist at the The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne , adds that that might also be because female medics put more time and care into their consults than in other activities.

“Podcast Archive | RACP | The Royal Australasian College of Physicians. That might be because the woman has potentially spent a little bit more time understanding who that person is. We don't know, there's not that evidence, but we do know that women, as you say, work differently and I think, to a certain extent, that's not valued” says Associate Professor Allen.

“Even if you're not partnered, even if you haven't expressed an interest in having a family, you're a woman, so at any time you might go off and do this thing that then affects your productivity, affects your ability to contribute to the workplace” she added.

One thing is for certain, despite the significant investment in supporting women return to the workforce, Dr Proimos and Associate Professor Allen both note that even after maternity leave, there are longer-lasting impacts on a mother’s ability to work fulltime or contribute to roles and responsibilities beyond medical practice that would make them visible candidates for promotion in the workplace.

The podcast addresses how to mitigate this so-called “motherhood penalty” through policy, workplace culture and better distribution of labour in the home. This discussion is important because it relates not just to the wellbeing and rights of individual medics, but also to the depth and diversity of the workforce at a time when capacity struggles to keep up with demand.

Listen now

You can visit our website to listen to the full podcast on the RACP website, or search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox or any podcasting app. Remember to subscribe to access the latest episodes first.

Many thanks to Dr Jenny Proimos and Associate Professor Kara Allen for being so generous with their thoughts, expertise and time. This podcast was an exploratory conversation and not intended to represent any formal views of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Pomegranate Health, an initiative of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians is a podcast about the culture of medicine and is presented by Mic Cavazzini.

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