The main objective of this project is to collect and analyze primary data to investigate gender differences in the tenure patterns of academic economists over the last two decades. Academic success, and the underlying mechanisms through which it is achieved, is significant because of the value of understanding employment in a well-defined labor market which requires immense investments in human capital and is dominated by long-term contracts. Employers and employees have heterogeneous characteristics, thus both engage in search to obtain or continue job-worker matchings. Given the recent focus of critical public debate on the state of the educational system and its role in future productivity gains, understanding the role of gender differences in academic labor markets is of great consequence. This project documents differences in the promotion process by measuring differences in the distribution by gender across: (1) fields of specialization; (2) ranks of employing and degree- granting academic institutions; and (3) publications patterns (by rank of journal, type of publication, and co-authorship patterns) and, second, analysis of data on mentoring, networking, and collaborating, all of which are frequently suggested to be important contributors to academic success. New data on interrupted labor supply due to family responsibilities will be collected for women. The planning period would be used to (1) determine availability and cost of collecting data to define an appropriate sample; (2) design, test, and evaluate a trial survey instrument for data on interrupted labor supply; and (3) prepare a NSF grant proposal.
