Gender and Career Progression: Evidence from the Banco de España

Using anonymised personnel records from the Banco de España, we examine gender differences in career progression. This institution features a complex professional development system, in which competitive calls, direct appointments and vertical promotions coexist. We document that the presence of women has increased markedly since the late 1990s, although not always in a monotonic manner. Comparing male and female potential candidates for the same process, we find no significant gender gaps in the probability of promotion in competitive calls, nor in direct appointments or in vertical promotions. Among managers, however, our findings suggest differences between different types of promotion processes. In promotions to/between department director and division head positions, we do find a significantly lower probability of promotion for women relative to men through competitive calls. We also find that women are less likely to apply for managerial positions in competitive calls than men. Finally, in the business areas where most economists work, we find that women are less likely than men to be promoted to/between department director and division head positions in competitive calls, but have a higher probability of achieving vertical promotions to positions immediately below these levels in the hierarchy, such as unit heads. For this group of business areas, gender differences in the probability of application are not significant.