Is the bar higher for female scholars? Evidence from career steps in economics

Journal article

Do gender disparities in academia reflect that female scholars are held to higher standards than males? We address this question by comparing the academic achievement of male and female scholars in economics who make the same career step. Across four domains – faculty appointments, network invitations, grant awards and editor appointments – we find no evidence that standards are higher for females. By contrast, the average female has fewer 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 a lower bar for females.

Authors: Johannesen, N; Muchardt, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Journal of Public Economics
• Volume: 257
• Article number: 105611
• Publication date: 2026-03-06
• Acceptance date: 2026-02-20
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2026.105611
• EISSN: 1879-2316
• ISSN: 0047-2727
• Language: English
• Keywords: gender differences; discrimination; unequal treatment; gender gap; academic labor markets