Gender and Age Variations in Pharmacists’ Job Satisfaction in the United States

Abstract

While several studies have attested the presence of systematic gender and age variations in pharmacists’ satisfaction with their jobs, only a few of them have considered both classifications simultaneously. None have done so while systematically examining multiple facets of practitioners’ work. This article estimated U.S. pharmacists’ satisfaction levels with various facets of their work, compared them simultaneously between genders and among age groups, and tested for the presence of gender−age interaction effects. The study was based on self-reported survey data collected from 701 pharmacists (31.0% response rate). Mean and standard deviation values for 18 indices related to pharmacists’ work were calculated. When age groups were controlled, female pharmacists expressed overall higher levels of satisfaction with their job than male pharmacists; they also expressed greater satisfaction with multiple specific facets and with the profession, as well as greater workload and stress than male pharmacists. The findings revealed few significant differences among age groups and a limited gender−age interaction effect for pharmacists’ satisfaction with key facets of their work. These findings should contribute to the development and refinement of rational criteria for increasing sources of satisfaction in pharmacy settings.

Keywords

• age disparities
• gender disparities
• job satisfaction
• job-related preferences
• pharmacist workforce