Career Outcomes in a Matched Sample of Men and Women Ph.D.s

Abstract

A study analyzed the career outcomes of men and women Ph.D.s Based on a sample survey of approximately 50,000 Ph.D scientists, engineers, and humanists, conducted in 1979 by the National Research Council, the study examined 5164 triads consisting of one woman and two men who were matched as nearly as possible according to selected background characteristics (including age, years of prior experience at receipt of doctorate, support during graduate school, marital status, employment status, promotions, salary, and academic rank and tenure). Designed to determine whether there has been a trend in the discrepancy between the career patterns during the past decade, the study provides data on sex-related barriers to the advancement of women in each major field for cohorts of triads who obtained doctorates in each of the following periods: the 1940s and 1950s, the 1960s, 1970-1974, and 1975-1978. The following facts emerged from the survey: (1) even for most recent Ph.D.s, involuntary unemployment was two-and-one-half times higher for women than for men; (2) sex differentials are large and pervasive in faculty status, tenure status faculty appointments, and promotions; and (3) significant sex-related salary differentials still exist at all levels and types of institutions.