| Abstract: |
This paper investigates gender gaps in long-term career expectations and
outcomes of PhD candidates in economics. For this purpose, we match rich
survey data on PhD candidates (from the 2008-2010 job market cohorts) to
public data on job histories and publication records through 2022. We document
four novel empirical facts: (1) there is a robust gender gap in career
expectations, with females about 10 percentage points less likely to ex-ante
expect to get tenure or publish regularly; (2) the gender gap in expectations
is remarkably similar to the gap observed for academic outcomes; (3)
expectations are similarly predictive of outcomes for males and females. In
addition, the predictive power of expectations does not differ by the
relationship status of the individual; and (4) gender gaps in expectations can
explain about 19% and 13% of the ex-post gaps in tenure and publications,
respectively. |