Gender and University: Factors that Influence Peruvian Midwives’ Employment and Wages

Abstract

Although a reduction in economic inequality has been reported in Peru, there are wage differences for professionals in the labour market mediated by structural determinants. Gender and university could be related to this problem. A secondary analysis of the “National Survey of University Graduates and Universities, 2014” was performed to analyse the influence of gender and university on employment and wages in the Peruvian midwifery labour market through a multivariate analysis. The chi square, p-value, odds ratio – crude and adjusted – and a 95 per cent confidence interval were calculated. The results allow concluding that gender and university determine unemployment and low wages in the Peruvian midwifery labour market. Female health workers experience a higher risk of unemployment, working in jobs that are not related to their professional training, and low payment. Midwives from public or upcountry universities experience a higher risk of unemployment and low wages. Working in jobs that are not related to the professional training was determined by coming from private and upcountry universities; it was a factor associated with low wages and the probability for having to do two jobs. It is necessary to improve governmental interventions to eliminate these barriers, of which the issue of remuneration is the most important.