I think it is more difficult for women training to be doctors and in particular, surgeons, to find time to have kids and to balance work/training and home duties. There was one woman surgeon in my dad’s plastic surgery practice at a university hospital. She was also a professor at the medical school, had one child and was divorced. All the men in the practice had multiple children and most had wives who were SAHM…it makes a difference. My cousin is a hospitalist and has 3 children. She had at least one of them during her residency. Her husband is a surgeon. Her brother and his wife are both pediatric cardiology residents and have one child so far.
However, once women become attendings and/or join private practice, there seem to be opportunities for flexible schedules depending on their specialty. For example, my children’s pediatric practice had 10 female physicians and two male physicians. The men worked full time and all of the women except one, worked two days a week. I’ve encountered similar schedules in dermology and OB/GYN practices. Surgery will never afford the same flexibility; but that’s not a secret.