Master Theses

Thursday, 23 September, 2021

Danylenko Alona “Gender Gap in Productivity Across Science Disciplines”

Master Thesis Chair:
Štěpán Jurajda

Abstract:

Persistent gaps in publication productivity between men and women have been widely studied in social and economic literature since 1984, when Cole and Zuckerman referred to this discrepancy as a ‘puzzle’. Existing studies on differences in publication productivity between men and women have considered different determinants of the gender gap, which partly, but not fully, explained the “gender puzzle”. My study differs from the existing literature in terms of the coverage of the data used and the key questions asked: 1) what factors contribute to the gender gap in publication productivity between male and female scientists? 2) what institutional factors facilitate productivity of female scientists? 3) how does the size of gender gap vary across disciplines? 4) which workplaces hire more women over time? The results of my research suggest that: 1) the size of gender gap is one-third less wide when field of specialization is controlled for; 2) women gain advantages in terms of higher productivity at larger workplaces, which cannot be explained by more stringent selection; 3) the smallest gender gap is observed in typically ‘feminine’ fields, such as Sociology, Medicine, and Education, while the largest gap is observed in Physics and Mathematics; 4) there is a path dependence in new female hirings, in which the presence of successful females at a workplace attracts more entrances of female scientists over time.