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Science and Engineering Ph.D. Students’ Career Outcomes, by Gender

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  • Annamaria Conti
  • Fabiana Visentin

Abstract

We examine differences in the careers of men and women Ph.D.s from two major European universities. Having performed regression analysis, we find that women are more likely than men to be employed in public administration when the alternatives are either academia or industry. Between the latter two alternatives, women are more likely to be employed in academia. These gender differences persist after accounting for Ph.D.s’ and their supervisors’ characteristics. Gender gaps are smaller for Ph.D.s with large research outputs and for those who conducted applied research. Restricting the analysis to Ph.D.s who pursued postdoc training, women are less likely than men to be employed in highly ranked universities, even after controlling for their research outputs. Finally, we find gender differences in Ph.D.s’ appointment to professorship, which are explained by the Ph.D.s’ publication output and the quality of their postdoc training.

Suggested Citation

  • Annamaria Conti & Fabiana Visentin, 2015. "Science and Engineering Ph.D. Students’ Career Outcomes, by Gender," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(8), pages 1-15, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0133177
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133177
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    Cited by:

    1. Rossello, Giulia & Cowan, Robin & Mairesse, Jacques, 2020. "Ph.D. research output in STEM: the role of gender and race in supervision," MERIT Working Papers 2020-021, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Baruffaldi, Stefano & Visentin, Fabiana & Conti, Annamaria, 2016. "The productivity of science & engineering PhD students hired from supervisors’ networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 785-796.
    3. Reinhart Reithmeier & Liam O’Leary & Xiaoyue Zhu & Corey Dales & Abokor Abdulkarim & Anum Aquil & Lochin Brouillard & Samantha Chang & Samantha Miller & Wenyangzi Shi & Nancy Vu & Chang Zou, 2019. "The 10,000 PhDs project at the University of Toronto: Using employment outcome data to inform graduate education," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Claartje J Vinkenburg & Sara Connolly & Stefan Fuchs & Channah Herschberg & Brigitte Schels, 2020. "Mapping career patterns in research: A sequence analysis of career histories of ERC applicants," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, July.

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