Priorities to Support the Home-Life of Women Physicians: A Scoping Review and Key Informant Interviews.

Abstract

Women physicians are vital to the US healthcare workforce. Although women physicians have primary responsibility for home-life activities, career support initiatives have primarily focused on work-life. This scoping review examined recommendations from published research and working groups for opportunities to mitigate women physicians' home-life responsibilities. The literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus for English- or French-language quantitative surveys, qualitative studies, or working group studies on women physicians' home-life from January 2012 to December 15, 2025. Two reviewers independently screened records; disagreements were resolved with a senior advisor. Data were collected on study design, population, setting, and recommendations. Moser's Gender Analysis Framework categorized recommendations as follows: childbearing, childcare, housekeeping, and other family/community support. To offer additional insights into home-life challenges, we conducted 30-min semi-structured interviews with leading women in medicine recruited by snowball sampling. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Of 884 screened articles, 26 offered recommendations to improve women physicians' home-life: 13 surveys, 8 qualitative studies, and 5 working group studies. Recommendations primarily addressed childbearing by adapting schedules, increasing leave, on-site lactation facilities, and greater protected time for home responsibilities. Childcare was another focus of recommendations including on-site or home childcare support and flexible scheduling. Other home-life responsibilities, such as domestic chores and help with other family/community responsibilities, were less frequently addressed. Themes from 12 key informants included standardized policies and paid leave for childbearing, accommodation for lactation and quality on-site childcare with extended hours. This scoping review identified 26 research and working group publications with recommendations to support women physicians' home-life, which primarily addressed childbearing and childcare, with less emphasis on other domestic and family/community responsibilities. These recommendations serve as a basis for needed home-life support to facilitate the careers of younger women physicians. Open Science Framework ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/M8XFK ); April 9, 2024.