WAPPP Seminar
Equal but Inequitable: Who Benefits from Gender-Neutral Tenure Clock Stopping Policies?
Kelly Bedard, Department Chair and Professor of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Having children may reduce the probability that women are promoted in a variety of professions because early productivity falls despite the existence of short family leave programs. But the problem may be particularly acute at research-intensive universities where research productivity before the tenure decision is especially important. In response, many of these institutions have adopted gender-neutral tenure clock-stopping policies so women—and men—do not have to sacrifice family for career, and vice versa. The extra time on the tenure clock is intended to account for the negative productivity shock associated with having a child. While these policies are equal in the sense that they give the same benefit to women and men who have children, they are inequitable in that the time cost (or productivity loss) experienced by men and women is quite different. Using data from top-50 economics departments from 1980-2005, Kelly Bedard shows that these policies raised male tenure rates while at the same time reducing female tenure rates.
Thursday, November 30, 11:40am to 1:00pm
WAPPP Cason Seminar Room, Taubman 102
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