5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  Women academic ophthalmologists earned 85 to 91 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2024, with parity only achievable at the lowest ranks.

• 2

  Median total compensation increased across all academic ranks from 2016 to 2024, but only assistant professors exceeded inflation.

• 3

  Women were compensated less than men at every rank, with a projected career earnings gap of $1.04 million over 30 years.

• 4

  Parity projections suggest women could reach compensation equality at assistant and associate professor ranks in 7.5 and 14.6 years, respectively.

• 5

  Commentators argue that gender-based salary inequity is an institutional failure that limits financial capital and generational opportunity.