I completely disagree that physicians have little reward for investing in their careers and have compensation rates set entirely by insurers. It all depends on the subspecialty and location – MDs outside of major cities and with equity ownership can do very well indeed, regardless of the insurance climate. Being an MD can actually be one of the most meritocratic fields out there, and I know very few docs who have to take work home with them: when their shift is over and the charts are done, they’re done.

Women MDs do get the shaft, however, when they don’t “lean in” to highly-compensated specialties and instead choose peds or family medicine thinking they’re most “flexible,” while marrying surgeons and failing to negotiate with their husbands for an equal division of household labor.

But what standard of living is OK for your children? Is the option of private school necessary for an “appropriate” standard of living? Do you have to be able to afford to live where public schools are “good”, whatever that means to you? Do you need to pay for health insurance for your children or does it make more sense to be heavily subsidized by the state, as many Oregonians are?

If you choose to move away from your family of origin, especially away from a rural area, for your career, you will likely have a higher income but no family support, so you will have to hire more support such as backup childcare.

I guess I read this post and think, “This applies to the 5-10% of women with the drive and intelligence to earn incomes in the top 5-10% of the population. It’s about staying upper middle class, not working class or even middle class. And if my Facebook sample of women who went to good colleges/grad schools is at all accurate, 1/3-1/2 won’t have any kids anyway.”

I suspect that children need both parental (or other caring, involved adult) time and money to achieve at high levels. Where do you see performance as a function of parental time/income drop off? Are there Davidson scholars who are not in the top 20% of parental income? If not, why not? If so,why?

With my teacher/electrician couple, who would provide this parental time, given that good employment for both of them in the same place is unavailable. Given that she can’t move and finish her pension, which is dependent on 30 years of state employment to be optimal, how would they “step in”? Their best ROI is staying in this state for her pension.

@TG – so the median annual wage of women who work ft is $35,984. For men it’s $45,500. If you have these two married to each other, their combined income is $81,484. That puts you just slightly below the lower limit for the top 20% of households in America, which is $88,030.

Maybe Laura could do a post on how mothers of Davidson Scholars balance full-time careers and supporting their children’s talents, especially for families with incomes that are not in the top 20% or schools that are not in the top 20%.

My friend the electrician found a job 90 miles away, so he’s gone 5 days/week. At some point, leaning in to your career doesn’t work when both parents do it, unless there are extenuating factors like money for tutors/private school or grandparent help.