Parenthood and productivity of highly skilled labor: Evidence from the groves of academe

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post Foundation. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SIZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. We examine the effect of pregnancy and parenthood on the research productivity of academic economists. Combining the survey responses of nearly 10,000 economists with their publication records as documented in their RePEc accounts, we do not find that motherhood is associated with low research productivity. Nor do we find a statistically significant unconditional effect of a first child on research productivity. Conditional differencein-differences estimates, however, suggest that the effect of parenthood on research productivity is negative for unmarried women and positive for untenured men. Moreover, becoming a mother before 30 years of age appears to have a detrimental effect on research productivity.JEL Classification: J13, I23, J24

Women's Success in Academic Science: Challenges to Breaking Through the Ivory Ceiling

“…Similarly, a recent study of academic economists found that motherhood in general did not detract from research productivity (Krapf et al 2014). In their survey of 10,000 men and women economists in universities internationally, the authors found that married mothers were not less productive than married fathers.…”

“…Although subjective and problematic, success in academia is measured primarily through the number and frequency of publications and through the impact of those publications (Hunter and Leahey 2010;Prpic 2002;Reskin 1978). Although the gap has decreased over time, in both natural and social academic sciences, women in general publish fewer articles (Krapf et al, 2014). This difference in productivity negatively affects women's recognition within their field (Hopkins et al 2013;Tolbert 1986).…”

“…In their survey of 10,000 men and women economists in universities internationally, the authors found that married mothers were not less productive than married fathers. However, married mothers published more than unmarried mothers and mothers younger than 30 years old (Krapf et al 2014). The authors suggest that because professionals usually plan for children, they choose to have children at points in their career when their research has already advanced.…”

“…This can allow them more time to publish. The authors argue that mothers may face greater barriers to securing academic jobs than in publishing once they are hired (Krapf et al 2014;Wolfinger et al 2008). Thus, women in academia may face motherhood penalties largely because of variable definitions of success.…”

Pay and Job Rank among Academic Economists in the UK: Is Gender Relevant?

“…Contemporary studies of the relative position of women in academia tend to provide detailed analysis of what may be considered components in the determination of salary. For example, gender differences in the production and recognition of quality (Sarsons 2017) and/or quantity of research publications (Aiston 2014;Eagan and Garvey 2015;Joeks et al 2014;Krapf et al 2017); marriage and promotion (Mason et al 2013); applying for, and being awarded, research grants (Marsh et al 2011) and mentoring and career progression (Blau et al 2010). However, these studies do not include direct information on salaries.…”