Gender differences in academic careers: Evidence for a Dutch university from personnel data 1990-2006

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine gender differences in promotion probabilities of the academic staff of a large university in The Netherlands, taking into account the sex segregated context of the faculty. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses records of the university's personnel information system from 1990 to 2006, covering the data of 1,792 employees in the academic ranks who have entered since 1990. Cox regression models are used to test three hypotheses. Findings - The findings show that women have lower promotion probabilities than men. The gender differences are primarily explained by differences in years of service and external mobility, and not by the sex segregated context of the faculty. A higher share of women decreases the odds of being promoted for both men and women. Gender differences in working hours do not explain the gender differences in promotion probabilities. Originality/value - The paper adds to the existing literature because event history analyses have hardly been applied to personnel records for investigating the impact of the sex segregated context on promotion probabilities.

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