Are Men Given Priority for Top Jobs? Investigating the Glass Ceiling in the Italian Academia

Maria De Paola (), Michela Ponzo and Vincenzo Scoppa

No 9658, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We aim to investigate if men receive preferential treatment in promotions using the Italian system for the access to associate and full professor positions that is organized in two stages: first, candidates participate in a national wide competition to obtain the National Scientific Qualification (NSQ), then successful candidates compete to obtain a position in University Departments opening a vacancy. We investigate the probability of success in the two stages in relation to the candidate's gender, controlling for several measures of productivity and a number of individual, field and university characteristics. Whereas no gender differences emerge in the probability of obtaining the NSQ, females have a lower probability of promotion at the Department level. Gender gaps tend to be larger when the number of available positions shrink, consistent with a sort of social norm establishing that men are given priority over women when the number of positions is limited.

Keywords: gender discrimination; glass ceiling; academic promotions; natural experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 J16 J45 J71 M51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2016-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Journal of Human Capital, 2018, Vol. 12, No. 3: 475-503.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Are Men Given Priority for Top Jobs? Investigating the Glass Ceiling in Italian Academia (2018)
Working Paper: ARE MEN GIVEN PRIORITY FOR TOP JOBS? INVESTIGATING THE GLASS CEILING IN THE ITALIAN ACADEMIA (2016)
Working Paper: Are Men Given Priority for Top Jobs? Investigating the Glass Ceiling in the Italian Academia (2016)
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