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Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Academic Careers

Ejermo, Olof LU orcid and Holmström, Peter LU (2026) In Lund Papers in Economic History
Abstract
Using population-wide data on Swedish university researchers and teachers, we identify the effects of parenthood on academic careers. Leveraging staggered event-study models that compare mothers and fathers around first birth, we document widening gender gaps in publication output, wage income, promotion, and PhD completion. These gaps arise across all scientific fields. We further document substantial gender differences prior to first birth and among never-parents, indicating that child-related penalties explain only part of the overall academic gender gap.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
academic careers, child penalty, parenthood, gender gap, Sweden, staggered, event study, research productivity, C23, I23, J13, J16, J24, J31
in
Lund Papers in Economic History
issue
2026:266
pages
60 pages
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3866cafb-4282-4768-8fa1-677e47587e0f
date added to LUP
2026-04-01 08:33:47
date last changed
2026-04-01 08:33:47
@misc{3866cafb-4282-4768-8fa1-677e47587e0f,
  abstract     = {{Using population-wide data on Swedish university researchers and teachers, we identify the effects of parenthood on academic careers. Leveraging staggered event-study models that compare mothers and fathers around first birth, we document widening gender gaps in publication output, wage income, promotion, and PhD completion. These gaps arise across all scientific fields. We further document substantial gender differences prior to first birth and among never-parents, indicating that child-related penalties explain only part of the overall academic gender gap.}},
  author       = {{Ejermo, Olof and Holmström, Peter}},
  keywords     = {{academic careers; child penalty; parenthood; gender gap; Sweden; staggered; event study; research productivity; C23; I23; J13; J16; J24; J31}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2026:266}},
  series       = {{Lund Papers in Economic History}},
  title        = {{Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Academic Careers}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/246343830/LUPEH_266.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}