Vetnews | Augustus 2025 12 « BACK TO CONTENTS In addition, more than half of the respondents reported perceived inequity based on their maternal status. Although these responses targeted a specific social media group, a subjective description of the group is an inclusive, supportive and diverse group of women that offers support and advice on a wide range of topics, both professional and personal. These data were from a small group of women who likely have an interest in this topic; however, the responses indicate that maternal discrimination and other issues for veterinary mothers are problematic, deserve additional research with more robust methodology and should prompt discussion of systemic institutional changes in the profession. Given that the veterinary profession is now largely made up of women (1), the widespread perceived discrimination likely has far-reaching and long-lasting impacts for the profession. As has been demonstrated in the human medicine literature (6), perceived discrimination may impact rates of burnout, retention and career satisfaction in addition to impacting earning power. Overall frequency of perceived discrimination among veterinarian mothers, as compared to a similar survey of physician mothers, was similar: 75.7% of veterinarians and 77.9% of physicians experienced discrimination of any type (6). However, in our study, 72.9% of veterinarians reported perceived maternal discrimination as compared to 35.8% of physician mothers responding to a similar survey (6). Discrimination based on gender demonstrated a reverse pattern, with 39.1% of veterinarians reporting perceived discrimination and 66.3% of physician mothers (6). One possible explanation is that the higher percentage of women in veterinary medicine as compared to human medicine (in 2017, 80.5% of matriculating veterinary school students were women, compared to 50.7% of medical school students) (1, 9) influences the prevalence of gender discrimination. Compared to veterinary medicine, in which the first published papers exploring the social and cultural implications of the increasingly female workforce began to emerge in the late 90s (10) and the first paper focusing on parenting was published in 2018 (7), attention to the struggle of female physicians dates back to the late 70s (11) and attention to the struggle physician mothers face as they balance dual roles (parenting and being a physician) dates back to the late 90s (12). The human medical profession may have dedicated more attention to this issue dating further back, which has resulted in increased awareness and in lower rates of perceived maternal discrimination in physicians as compared to veterinarians. Regardless of the differences between perceived maternal discrimination among veterinary and physician mothers, the high prevalence of perceived discrimination in the workplace in both populations is significant and warrants attention as the professions work to improve wellness. The top three ranked accommodations desired by veterinary mothers were flexibility in the workday schedule, longer paid maternity leave, and childcare onsite. According to a recent survey of veterinarians by DVM 360, 64% of women and 42% of men would take less pay for more flexibility in working hours, highlighting the importance of flexibility in the workforce (13). Our results suggest that employers could improve job satisfaction by prioritising flexibility for parents in the workplace. More research into types of flexibility that are desired by parents (i.e., can leave for an extended lunch break to visit child, taking a weekday off as needed, revisiting schedule yearly as parenting roles change with age) and the feasibility and management systems that can be applied to provide flexibility is needed. This may differ by workplace setting, and this data is skewed toward small animal veterinarians. Additional research to further describe the accommodations desired and possible in different settings would be needed to help guide any future recommendations. Nearly 84% of respondents reported that the timing of children was definitely or maybe influenced by their career choices. Recent literature found similar results among veterinary surgeons and found that women delay childbearing for longer than men (14). Given that the profession is predominantly made up of women and childbearing age overlaps with veterinary training and early career building phases for most people, this is unsurprising. In this study, over 30% of Leading Article Respondent experience n(%) Experienced a premature birth 167 (15.4%) EXPERIENCED MISCARRIAGE No 726 (67.1%) One 241 (22.3%) Two 74 (6.8%) More than two 35 (3.2%) I prefer not to say 6 (0.6%) Fertility treatment due to difficulty conceiving 192 (17.6%) POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION (PPD) Yes, diagnosed and treated by a medical professional 181 (16.7%) Symptoms but not diagnosed by a medical professional 353 (32.6%) No 531 (49.1%) Not applicable (currently pregnant) 13 (1.2%) I prefer not to say 4 (0.4%) CAREER CHOICES AFFECTED THE TIMING OF PREGNANCY(IES) Definitely yes 731 (67.6%) Maybe yes 175 (16.2%) Not sure 22 (2.0%) Probably not 92 (8.5%) Definitely not 62 (5.7%) TABLE 2: Frequency of experiences with premature birth, miscarriage, fertility treatment, and postpartum depression among 1,082 veterinary mothers administered a questionnaire through the closed, online group “Moms with a DVM.” Figure 2: Perceived inequity by 1,082 survey respondents. Respondents could select multiple types of perceived discrimination.
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