Women in Science. Lessons From the Baby Boom
Econometrica · 2025 · Scott Y. H. Kim、Petra Moser
中文摘要
本文利用《美国科学名人录》（American Men of Science，MoS 1956）中的传记资料，并将其与发表成果相链接，研究子女如何影响科学界女性。首先，我们发现母亲具有独特的生产率生命周期模式：其他科学家在30多岁中期达到生产率峰值，而母亲在该年龄段生产率下降，直到40岁出头才达到生产率峰值。接着，我们围绕婚姻进行事件研究，将母亲、父亲分别与其他已婚科学家进行比较。事件研究估计显示，母亲的生产率持续下降，直至子女达到入学年龄，而父亲的生产率并无变化。这些差异对终身教职获得和学术参与具有重要影响：仅有27%的母亲获得终身教职，而父亲和其他女性的这一比例分别为48%和46%。当育儿的全部负担落在女性身上时，抚养婴儿潮一代所耗费的时间成本，导致了女性科学家的大量流失。
Abstract
This paper investigates how children affect women in science, using biographies in the American Men of Science (MoS 1956), linked with publications. First, we show that mothers have a unique life cycle pattern of productivity: While other scientists peak in their mid‐30s, mothers become less productive at that age and reach peak productivity in their early‐40s. Next, we estimate event studies of marriage, comparing mothers and fathers with other married scientists. Event study estimates show that the productivity of mothers declines until children reach school age, while fathers experience no change. These differences have important implications for tenure and participation: Just 27% of mothers achieve tenure, compared with 48% of fathers and 46% of other women. When women carried the full burden of childcare, the time costs of raising the baby boom led to a great loss of female scientists.