The Interplay of Parental Leave, Career Achievement, and Burnout in Academic Neurologists: A Multicenter Study

Background: Despite the health benefits of parental leave (PL), many physicians in the United States take little to no PL. This issue is particularly pressing in academic neurology, which faces high burnout rates and a projected shortage. This study evaluated the impact of PL on career achievements and burnout in academic neurology. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of neurologists in 19 U.S. institutions measured PL experience, academic achievements, and burnout. Chi-squared test was used to assess for group differences in the two groups: PL/NoPL and in subgroups: men/women. General linear regression models were used to examine the association between PL, gender, achievements, and burnout. Results: Among 239 respondents with children, 74.8% of women and 28.6% of men took PL (87.9% of women and 97.3% of men took less than 6 weeks). Academic achievement measures were similar for those who took PL and those who did not (NoPL) with the exception of fewer awards in the PL group (mean 2.25 for PL and 6.21 for NoPL, p = 0.018). The PL group showed higher family–work conflict score (PL-score = 22.64, NoPL-score = 18.27, p < 0.001) and higher emotional exhaustion (PL 43.2%, NoPL 34.6%, p = 0.017) than the NoPL group. Emotional exhaustion was higher in women compared with men, despite higher weekly work hours in the PL group men ( p = 0.021). Conclusion: Faculty who took PL did not have worse academic productivity compared with NoPL. But the PL group had higher levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion, especially in women, highlighting the need for support during and when returning from PL.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Women s Health
Published
2026-07-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/15409996261461419
Primary Topic
Diversity and Career in Medicine
Type
article
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article

The Interplay of Parental Leave, Career Achievement, and Burnout in Academic Neurologists: A Multicenter Study

June Yoshii-Contreras, Seema Nagpal, Myriam Abdennadher, Cynthia Zheng et al.
Journal of Women s Health
Diversity and Career in Medicine
article

The Interplay of Parental Leave, Career Achievement, and Burnout in Academic Neurologists: A Multicenter Study

June Yoshii-Contreras, Seema Nagpal, Myriam Abdennadher, Cynthia Zheng, Sasha Alick-Lindstrom, Sol De Jesus, Neishay Ayub, Kamala Rodrigues, Deborah Bradshaw, Christa O'Hana Nobleza, Nicole Brescia, Chen Zhao, Jane B. Allendorfer, Suma Shah, Ailing Yang, Padmaja Sudhakar, Laurie Gutmann, Julie Silver, Sima Patel, Virginia Howard, Mark B Fiecas, Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, N Frost, Parneet Grewal, Doris Kung, Sarah Durica, Sneha Mantri, Annie He, Katherine Zarroli, Laura Tormoehlen, Halley B. Alexander, Alyssa Westring, Nitya Shah
article en

Abstract

Background: Despite the health benefits of parental leave (PL), many physicians in the United States take little to no PL. This issue is particularly pressing in academic neurology, which faces high burnout rates and a projected shortage. This study evaluated the impact of PL on career achievements and burnout in academic neurology. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of neurologists in 19 U.S. institutions measured PL experience, academic achievements, and burnout. Chi-squared test was used to assess for group differences in the two groups: PL/NoPL and in subgroups: men/women. General linear regression models were used to examine the association between PL, gender, achievements, and burnout. Results: Among 239 respondents with children, 74.8% of women and 28.6% of men took PL (87.9% of women and 97.3% of men took less than 6 weeks). Academic achievement measures were similar for those who took PL and those who did not (NoPL) with the exception of fewer awards in the PL group (mean 2.25 for PL and 6.21 for NoPL, p = 0.018). The PL group showed higher family–work conflict score (PL-score = 22.64, NoPL-score = 18.27, p < 0.001) and higher emotional exhaustion (PL 43.2%, NoPL 34.6%, p = 0.017) than the NoPL group. Emotional exhaustion was higher in women compared with men, despite higher weekly work hours in the PL group men ( p = 0.021). Conclusion: Faculty who took PL did not have worse academic productivity compared with NoPL. But the PL group had higher levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion, especially in women, highlighting the need for support during and when returning from PL.

Journal of Women s Health
DePaul University (US), Boston Medical Center (US), University of Minnesota (US), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Kentucky (US), Medical University of South Carolina (US), University of Tennessee Health Science Center (US), Duke University (US), Baylor College of Medicine (US), SUNY Upstate Medical University (US), Brown University (US), University of Alabama at Birmingham (US), Jacksonville University (US), University of California San Diego (US), Massachusetts General Hospital (US), Cleveland Sleep Research Center (US), Southwestern Medical Center (US), Southwestern Medical Center (US), Wake Forest University (US), University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (US), Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (US), Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (US), The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US), Stanford University (US)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Diversity and Career in Medicine
DOISourceOpenAlex
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