IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/ratioi/0389.html

Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Academic Careers

Author

Listed:
  • Ejermo, Olof

    (The Ratio Institute)

  • Holmström, Peter

    (The Ratio Institute)

Abstract

Using population-wide data on Swedish university researchers and teachers, we identify the effects of parenthood on academic careers. Leveraging staggered event-study models that compare mothers and fathers around first birth, we document widening gender gaps in publication output, wage income, promotion, and PhD completion. These gaps arise across all scientific fields. We further document substantial gender differences prior to first birth and among never-parents, indicating that child-related penalties explain only part of the overall academic gender gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Ejermo, Olof & Holmström, Peter, 2026. "Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Academic Careers," Ratio Working Papers 389, The Ratio Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0389
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cms.ratio.se/app/uploads/2026/04/wp-389-parenthood-gender-gap-academic-careers.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mary Ann Mason & Marc Goulden, 2004. "Marriage and Baby Blues: Redefining Gender Equity in the Academy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 596(1), pages 86-103, November.
    2. Jevin D West & Jennifer Jacquet & Molly M King & Shelley J Correll & Carl T Bergstrom, 2013. "The Role of Gender in Scholarly Authorship," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-6, July.
    3. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    4. Mary Ann Mason & Marc Goulden, 2004. "Marriage and Baby Blues: Redefining Gender Equity in the Academy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 596(1), pages 252-253, November.
    5. Levin, Sharon G & Stephan, Paula E, 1991. "Research Productivity over the Life Cycle: Evidence for Academic Scientists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(1), pages 114-132, March.
    6. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2021. "Does Biology Drive Child Penalties? Evidence from Biological and Adoptive Families," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 3(2), pages 183-198, June.
    7. Vincent Larivière & Chaoqun Ni & Yves Gingras & Blaise Cronin & Cassidy R. Sugimoto, 2013. "Bibliometrics: Global gender disparities in science," Nature, Nature, vol. 504(7479), pages 211-213, December.
    8. Nikolay Angelov & Per Johansson & Erica Lindahl, 2016. "Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Pay," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(3), pages 545-579.
    9. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    10. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    11. Ejermo, Olof & Sofer, Yotam, 2024. "When colleges graduate: Micro-level effects on publications and scientific organization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    12. Kurt Schmidheiny & Sebastian Siegloch, 2023. "On event studies and distributed‐lags in two‐way fixed effects models: Identification, equivalence, and generalization," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(5), pages 695-713, August.
    13. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
    14. Elaine Howard Ecklund & Anne E Lincoln, 2011. "Scientists Want More Children," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-4, August.
    15. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2019. "Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 181-209, October.
    16. Scott Kim & Petra Moser, 2025. "Women in Science. Lessons From the Baby Boom," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 93(5), pages 1521-1560, September.
    17. Nicholas H. Wolfinger & Mary Ann Mason & Marc Goulden, 2008. "Problems in the Pipeline: Gender, Marriage, and Fertility in the Ivory Tower," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(4), pages 388-405, July.
    18. Jacob Mincer & Haim Ofek, 1982. "Interrupted Work Careers: Depreciation and Restoration of Human Capital," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 17(1), pages 3-24.
    19. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simon Bensnes & Ingrid Huitfeldt & Edwin Leuven, 2023. "Reconciling estimates of the long-term earnings effect of fertility," Discussion Papers 1004, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    2. Nieto, Adrián, 2022. "Can subsidies to permanent employment change fertility decisions?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Gørtz, Mette & Sander, Sarah & Sevilla, Almudena, 2025. "Does the child penalty strike twice?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    4. Albanese, Andrea & Nieto, Adrián & Tatsiramos, Konstantinos, 2022. "Job Location Decisions and the Effect of Children on the Employment Gender Gap," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1113, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Healy, Olivia & Heissel, Jennifer A., 2024. "Baby Bumps in the Road: The Impact of Parenthood on Job Performance, Human Capital, and Career Advancement," IZA Discussion Papers 16743, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Dor Leventer, 2026. "Identification of Child Penalties," Papers 2602.07486, arXiv.org, revised May 2026.
    7. Katrin Huber & Geske Rolvering, 2023. "Public child care and mothers’ career trajectories," Working Papers 228, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    8. Aguilar-Gomez, Sandra & Arceo-Gomez, Eva O. & De la Cruz Toledo, Elia, 2026. "Inside the black box of child penalties: Unpaid work and household structure," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    9. Maclean, J. Catherine & Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 13132, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Zhu, Junjie & Guo, Hongfeng, 2025. "Does the development of high-speed rail benefit carbon emissions reduction?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    11. Byrski, Dennis & Wang, Lucy Xiaolu, 2025. "Marketing authorization and strategic patenting: Evidence from pharmaceuticals," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    12. Fayssal Ayad & Ahlam Delmadji, 2025. "Fifty shades of sustainable development: a global study," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(7), pages 16739-16771, July.
    13. Roth, Jonathan & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Bilinski, Alyssa & Poe, John, 2023. "What’s trending in difference-in-differences? A synthesis of the recent econometrics literature," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 2218-2244.
    14. Thang Dang & Mika Haapanen & Tuomo Suhonen, 2024. "The Causal Effects of Education on Family Health: Evidence from Expanding Access to Higher Education," Working Papers 347, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    15. Dominique Meurs & Pierre Pora, 2025. "Traditional Views, Egalitarian Views, and the Child Penalty: Insights from Immigrant Populations in France," Working Papers hal-04947430, HAL.
    16. Gruber, Jonathan & Kosonen, Tuomas & Huttunen, Kristiina, 2025. "Paying moms to stay home: Short and long run effects on parents and children," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    17. Chu, Ziyan & Zhou, Yichen Christy, 2023. "The effect of adopting the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) on air travel performance," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Fabra, Natalia & Gutiérrez, Eduardo & Lacuesta, Aitor & Ramos, Roberto, 2024. "Do renewable energy investments create local jobs?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    19. Malisa, Amedeus, 2024. "Grand-parenthood and retirement," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Inés Berniell & Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & María Edo & Yarine Fawaz & Matilde P. Machado & Mariana Marchionni, 2025. "Motherhood and the allocation of talent," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(44), pages 7073-7089, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0389. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Daniel Halvarsson or Dennis Jernkrook (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ratiose.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.