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Does Science Promote Women? Evidence from Academia 1973-2001

In: Science and Engineering Careers in the United States: An Analysis of Markets and Employment

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  • Donna K. Ginther
  • Shulamit Kahn

Abstract

Many studies have shown that women are under-represented in tenured ranks in the sciences. We evaluate whether gender differences in the likelihood of obtaining a tenure track job, promotion to tenure, and promotion to full professor explain these facts using the 1973-2001 Survey of Doctorate Recipients. We find that women are less likely to take tenure track positions in science, but the gender gap is entirely explained by fertility decisions. We find that in science overall, there is no gender difference in promotion to tenure or full professor after controlling for demographic, family, employer and productivity covariates and that in many cases, there is no gender difference in promotion to tenure or full professor even without controlling for covariates. However, family characteristics have different impacts on women's and men's promotion probabilities. Single women do better at each stage than single men, although this might be due to selection. Children make it less likely that women in science will advance up the academic job ladder beyond their early post-doctorate years, while both marriage and children increase men's likelihood of advancing.

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This chapter was published in:

  • Richard B. Freeman & Daniel Goroff, 2009. "Science and Engineering Careers in the United States: An Analysis of Markets and Employment," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free09-1, October.
    This item is provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Chapters with number 11621.

    Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:11621

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    1. Kahn, Shulamit, 1993. "Gender Differences in Academic Career Paths of Economists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(2), pages 52-56, May.
    2. Donna K. Ginther & Shulamit Kahn, 2004. "Women in Economics: Moving Up or Falling Off the Academic Career Ladder?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 193-214, Summer.
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    Cited by:
    1. Emilia Del Bono & Andrea Weber & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2012. "Clash Of Career And Family: Fertility Decisions After Job Displacement," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 659-683, 08.
    2. Zinovyeva, Natalia & Bagues, Manuel F., 2011. "Does Gender Matter for Academic Promotion? Evidence from a Randomized Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 5537, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    3. Sara Connolly & Susan Long, 2011. "Equal Opportunities in Science? Evidence on Gender Pay Gaps amongst Scientists Working in the UK," University of East Anglia Applied and Financial Economics Working Paper Series 027, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    4. Aïcha Serghini Idrissi & Patricia Garcia-Prieto Sol, 2009. "Gendering models of leading academic performance (LAP): The role of social identity, prototypicality and social identity performance in female academic careers," Working Papers CEB 09-030.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Maria De Paola & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2011. "Gender Discrimination and Evaluators’ Gender: Evidence from the Italian Academy," Working Papers 201106, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Statistiche e Finanziarie (Ex Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica).
    6. Marianne Bertrand & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2009. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Corporate and Financial Sectors," NBER Working Papers 14681, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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