Gender gaps in academia: The role of children

Despite progress in women’s participation in science, significant gender gaps persist in the advancement and consolidation of their academic careers. This paper investigates the effect of parenthood on the academic trajectories of male and female scientists. We combine data from a standardized curriculum system, containing longitudinal information on academic achievements of the full population of researchers in Uruguay, with administrative records of academic positions and childbirth demographics. Using an event study approach around the birth date of the first child, we find that parenthood imposes a significant penalty on scientific productivity of mothers but not on that of fathers. On average mothers’ productivity declines by 17 %, which is equivalent to publishing three fewer articles than fathers in the ten years following childbirth. This penalty is particularly pronounced for women who had their first child before completing their PhD. Additionally, we provide novel evidence of a child penalty in the number of conference presentations by mothers, primarily driven by a sharp decline in the probability of attending international academic events. As a consequence of these motherhood penalties in academic productivity, we find that fathers are more likely to be promoted to higher academic positions in the years following childbirth. These findings suggest that the unequal impact of parenthood on academic trajectories of male and female researchers is an important source of gender gaps in the scientific field.