Skip to main content

Table 3 Differences in attitudes towards part-time work between full-time and part-time working specialists in internal medicine in 1996 and in 2004

From: Internal medicine specialists' attitudes towards working part-time: a comparison between 1996 and 2004

 

1996 (n = 200)

2004 (n = 327)

 

Part-timers

Full-timers

Part-timers

Full-timers

- Part-time working is restrictive towards autonomy

2.5

2.0

2.6

2.3**

- A part-time specialist invests as much in overhead-tasks (e.g. administration) as full-time specialists

1.9

1.8

2.0

1.6**

- A small part-time job (< 0.3 FTE) at the start of a career is disastrous for building up an independent position as a specialist

1.4

1.3

1.5

1.3

- Working part-time is threatening to the continuity of patient care

2.3

1.5

2.4

1.8***

- Part-time working is negative for communication and contacts with colleagues

2.2

1.7

2.2

1.8*

- For professionalism, working part-time or full-time is not important

2.3

2.0

2.4

2.2*

- For a part-time specialist it is not possible to build up a network with other health care partners

2.5

2.0

2.6

2.3***

- The lesser hours worked the lesser efficiency will be reached

2.3

1.8

2.3

1.8

- If the proportion of part-time specialists increases, the flexibility of task division will be higher

2.1

1.8

2.0

1.7

- The number of part-time specialists in our speciality have reached a ceiling

2.9

2.6

2.7

2.5*

  1. Attitude was scored from 1–3: 1=I fully agree and 3=I do not agree at all. A higher score reflects a more positive attitude. (Item 2, 6 and 9 were recoded).
  2. All comparisons with t-tests between part-timers in 1996 and 2004 and between full-timers in 1996 and in 2004
  3. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001