Last year the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) commissioned a report into the state of the veterinary workforce in Australia. They analysed factors including age, gender, employment type, hours worked, continuing education, and income.
The report highlighted a number of major points:
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Women outnumber men: This is not an unexpected phenomenon, with female-identifying persons making up the majority of students in veterinary degrees in Australia. The disparity is clearest in the younger age ranges, with the older age ranges (>50 yo) still having a higher proportion of men to women.
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Most vets are clinicians: While there are a wide range of professions available to veterinary graduates, most registered veterinarians are involved in clinical practice.
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Men work more hours: On average, female veterinarians work 40 hours per week, while men work an average of 45 hours per week. This disparity is most likely brought about by the societal trend of female veterinarians taking time out to raise children.
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Australian vets are mostly Australian: 94% of veterinarians in practice in Australia received their veterinary degree in Australia.
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Vets need to be paid more: Out of the vets that worked full time, 36% were on an income of less than 20 thousand dollars annually. No thank you.
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Male vets get paid more: Females are more likely than males to have incomes in the 0-80K bracket, and males are more likely to have incomes in the 80K+ bracket. This could be an indication of a gender disparity, but it is impossible to tell. There are confounding effects in the hours worked by females (lower), and the fact that males in the workforce are older, as age is usually associated with a higher income.
If you are interested in the report follow the links through the one above.
It is worth noting that this was a voluntarily undertaken survey, So may not be an accurate representation of the total veterinary workforce in Australia.
