Gender Differences in Employment Outcomes for Academics in Science and Social Science

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT PROPOSAL NO: 0353703 INSTITUTION: University of Kansas NSF PROGRAM: ECONOMICS PI: Ginther, Donna K TITLE: Gender Differences in Employment Outcomes for Academics in Science and Social Science Several studies find that women are underrepresented in the sciences, earn less, and are less likely to be tenured than men. The studies, however, do not explain what factors contribute to the observed gender differences. This research will investigate the economic explanations for gender differences in salary, promotion, and attrition for academics in science, social science, and engineering using data from the 1973 -2001 waves of the Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR). This study has 4 specific goals: 1) matching the SDR data with publication data; 2), examine the effect of productivity on outcomes; 3), document the facts concerning gender differences in science and social science; and 4), use economic theory to explore the causes of the observed gender differences. Matching the SDR data with publication data has several advantages: it is a nationally representative sample of doctorates in the U. S. that follows individuals over time and contains detailed information on demographic characteristics, educational background, employer characteristics, academic rank, primary work activity, government support, productivity, salary, and promotion. This research will contribute to the literature by performing separate analyses in the fields of life, physical, and social science and engineering of the economic explanations for gender differences in employment outcomes. It will explore whether the gender salary gap in science has converged since the mid-1990s; factors accounting for the gender promotion gap in the social sciences; and the timing and reasons for women leaving the scientific pipeline. It will examine explanations of the gender gap such as differences in preferences and productivity, market forces including monopsony and the excess supply of doctoral scientists, and discrimination. Focusing on academic labor markets allows researchers to evaluate economic explanations of the gender wage gap such as productivity differences or market forces more easily than in the general population. Second, this expands the analysis of gender differences to include additional employment outcomes such as promotion and attrition from careers that may, in turn, explain a substantial portion of the gender wage differential. Academic institutions and National Science Foundation can use the results of this research to address barriers faced by underrepresented groups in physical and social sciences.