Meta-Research: How parenthood contributes to gender gaps in academia

  1. Xiang Zheng
  2. Haimiao Yuan
  3. Chaoqun Ni  Is a corresponding author
  1. Information School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States
  2. College of Education, The University of Iowa, United States
8 figures, 2 tables and 4 additional files

Figures

Subjective and objective career achievements by gender and parenthood status.

(A). Percentage of satisfaction over research, career, and recognition by scholarly communities; (B). Women/men odds ratio for subjective career achievements; Control variables include discipline, career stage, partner job type, and race. Standard errors were clustered at the institution level. p (SUEST) values compare the odds ratio values between the parent and non-parent group; (C). Women-men difference in annual relative publication (ARP), average relative citation (ARC), and annual relative coauthor (ARCo). Positive values indicate female dominance and negative male dominance; (D). Coefficients for gender (women) based on linear regression analysis on ARP, ARC, and ARCo.

Forms of work-family conflict experienced, and partner support received by gender and parenthood status.

(A) Percentage of women and men experiencing “substantial” conflict; (B) Odds ratio (women/men) for experiencing work-family conflict; (C) Percentage of women and men receiving “substantial” partner support; (D) Odds ratio (women/men) for receiving partner support. The (women/men) odds ratio values were based on logistic regression. Control variables include discipline, career stage, partner job type, and race. Standard errors were clustered at the institution level. SUEST was used to compare the odds ratio values between parent and non-parent group.

Mediation effect analysis models of partner support and work-family conflict between gender and subjective and objective career achievement measures.

Only paths with statistically significant effects (p<0.05) are shown. Black and gray lines denote positive and negative mediating coefficients, respectively. (A) sets the objective career achievement as the outcomes and tests with the parent group (n=4,173). (B) sets the subjective career achievement measures as the outcomes and tests with the parent group (n=4,557). (C) sets the subjective career achievement measures as the outcomes and tests with the non-parent group (n=1,152).

Author response image 1
Kernel density distributions of annual relative publications (ARP) and average relative citations (ARC) across parenting groups and genders, by career stages.
Author response image 2
Arts and humanities.
Author response image 3
Medical sciences.
Author response image 4
Natural sciences and engineering.
Author response image 5
Social sciences.

Tables

Table 1
Child impact on career for parents.

Odds ratio (women/men) values were based on ordinal logistic regression. Standard errors were clustered at the institution level. Control variables include discipline, race, and type of partner job.

AllTraineeEarly careerMiddle careerLate career
WomenMenWomenMenWomenMenWomenMenWomenMen
Negative (%)71.348.679.360.279.166.475.559.160.937.3
Neutral (%)14.726.29.621.29.716.513.119.12033
Positive (%)14.125.211.118.611.217.111.421.919.229.7
N3,1052,5302081186183331,1727451,1071,334
OR, 95% CI, p-value0.46 [0.41,0.51], P=0.0000.34 [0.20,0.61], P=0.0000.52 [0.39,0.70], P=0.0000.47 [0.40,0.56], P=0.0000.43 [0.37,0.51], P=0.000
Author response table 1
The bootstrap results for subjective and objective career achievements – coefficients and 95% bias-corrected confidence interval (CI).
Subjective career achievementCoef.95% bias-corrected CIObjective career achievementCoef.95% bias-corrected CI
LowerUpperLowerUpper
Non-parent
Research satisfaction-0.062-0.3170.185ARP0.016-0.1480.174
Career satisfaction0.052-0.2270.334ARC-0.321-0.7650.032
Community recognition-0.05-0.3330.226ARCo0.025-0.1090.141
Parent
Research satisfaction-0.332-0.457-0.208ARP-0.349-0.486-0.216
Career satisfaction-0.116-0.250.035ARC-0.196-0.386-0.01
Community recognition-0.308-0.454-0.162ARCo-0.102-0.174-0.031
Coefficient difference (non-parent – parent)
Research satisfaction0.271-0.0160.549ARP0.3650.1520.572
Career satisfaction0.168-0.1490.476ARC-0.126-0.5990.273
Community recognition0.259-0.0630.558ARCo0.126-0.020.263

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  1. Xiang Zheng
  2. Haimiao Yuan
  3. Chaoqun Ni
(2022)
Meta-Research: How parenthood contributes to gender gaps in academia
eLife 11:e78909.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78909