Gender Gaps in Academic Careers: Evidence from Economics in Argentina

Seminario de investigación del IIEP

Gender Gaps in Academic Careers: Evidence from Economics in Argentina

Expositora | María Edo | UdeSA & CONICET

Resumen

This paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of gender disparities in academic economics in Argentina, and one of the few systematic studies on this topic in developing countries. Drawing on newly collected and harmonized datasets from different sources, including administrative data, university records, microdata obtained through web scraping, and ad-hoc surveys, we document the extent and evolution of women’s representation across the stages of economics education and academic careers. Our findings confirm the presence of a leaky pipeline: the small gender imbalance at the undergraduate level gets larger at later stages of the career, including research and faculty positions as well as research output and rankings. To better understand these patterns, we explore potential drivers such as student performance, preferences and expectations, exposure to role models, coauthorship patterns, networking and access to funding, as well as academic service, institutional representation, and leadership roles. We find that even though women and men display similar academic performance—as measured by graduation rates, length to graduation, and GPAs—and comparable aspirations to pursue an academic career, their professional trajectories diverge sharply. While the analysis is descriptive rather than causal, the evidence suggests that these disparities are not rooted in differences in ability or preferences but most likely arise from structural and institutional barriers that constrain women’s advancement and visibility within the field.

Autores María Edo (UdeSA & CONICET), Mariana Marchionni (CEDLAS – IIE – Universidad Nacional de La Plata & CONICET), María Florencia Pinto (CEDLAS – IIE – Universidad Nacional de La Plata) y Mariana Viollaz (CEDLAS – IIE – Universidad Nacional de La Plata & IZA)

Sobre la expositora 

María Edo es Profesora Adjunta y Coordinadora Académica del Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Humano en la Universidad de San Andrés. Es Doctora en Economía por la misma institución (2016), fue becaria doctoral y posdoctoral del CONICET e ingresó como Investigadora Asistente en 2023. Su campo de investigación abarca el estudio de las inequidades sociales, con énfasis en su medición, determinantes y consecuencias, así como en la evaluación de políticas orientadas a reducirlas. Su producción científica, centrada en Argentina y América Latina, busca aportar evidencia rigurosa al debate público y a la formulación de políticas.

Lugar | FCE UBA |  Aula Olivera