Is the Bar Higher for Female Scholars? Evidence from Career Steps in Economics

Do gender disparities in academia reflect that female scholars are held to higher standards than males? We address this question by comparing the scientific merit of male and female academic economists who make the same career step. Across four domains – i.e. faculty positions, network affiliations, research grants and editor appointments – we find no evidence that standards are higher for females. By contrast, the average female has less citations and publications than the average male who makes the same career step. In most domains, this reflects a gender gap for “marginal” scholars, consistent with lower merit thresholds for females.