Are Men Given Priority for Top Jobs? Investigating the Glass Ceiling in the Italian Academia - JOURNAL OF HUMAN CAPITAL (FORTHCOMING)

We investigate the gender gap in academic promotions focusing on the Italian system. Candidates first participate in a national wide competition to obtain the scientific qualification, then successful candidates compete to obtain a position in Departments. We estimate the gender gaps in the probability of success in these two stages, controlling for several measures of productivity. Whereas no gender differences emerge in the probability of obtaining the qualification, females have a lower probability of promotion at the Department level. Robustness checks suggest that it is unlikely that the estimated gender gaps are the results of measurement errors.