Gender Differences in Fields of Specialization and Placement Outcomes among PhDs in Economics

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of gender differences in field of specialization on gender disparities in job placement among recent economics PhD candidates. Women are underrepresented as assistant professors, especially at top-50 institutions, and overrepresented in nonresearch positions. Our decomposition results show that our variables account for 28 percent to 67 percent of the gender gap in placement outcomes. Fields of specialization account for the larger share (75 percent to 132 percent) of the explained differences for positions outside of top-50 institutions. For top-50 institutions, the ranking of the PhD institutions accounts for two-thirds of the explained placement differences.