Advancing Salary Equity in Schools of Medicine in the United States

Equity, in broad terms, is a critical issue and has been identified as an area that needs particular attention in academic medicine. Gender equity, as a subset of overall equity, has equally been shown to be lacking in academic medicine, and most medical schools and academic health systems are involved in substantive journeys to improve all dimensions of equity, diversity, and inclusion. This Invited Commentary calls for including gender-based salary equity as a foundational accomplishment for institutions seeking to achieve overall equity. In addition, the authors provide evidence and recommendations to guide institutions toward best practices in achieving salary equity. They propose 4 areas of consideration: (1) prioritization by leadership; (2) prioritization of resources to ensure success; (3) development of corrective action plans which are "automatic"and based on clear guidelines; and (4) transparency of methodology, data, and results.