Gendered patterns of competence and hireability

The Nordic countries are known for their high degree of gender equality in working life participation, and a strong emphasis on gender equality in general. Since the 1960s, the proportion of women pursuing higher education has been increasing. Despite this, women are still underrepresented in professorships, including in the social sciences and humanities, where women make up the majority of students. Could the downgrading of women's academic competence be a contributing factor to this underrepresentation?

The main objective og this work package is to examine whether there are systematic differences in the recruitment process within academia. The project examines whether differences in the evaluation of candidates for top academic positions are the cause of the observed inequality, or whether other factors must be considered as potential explanation for the gender gap.

The project has conducted a survey experiment with a total of 775 respondents among permanent scientific employees in economics, law, physics, political science, psychology, and sociology at 17 universities in Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

Faculty respondents were asked to rate the CVs of hypothetical candidates from 1 to 7 based on their competence and hireability. The hypothetical candidates for a permanent position as an Associate Professor in their respective discipline were randomly assigned either a male or a female name. To examine the effects of publication records and children, each participant evaluated two CVs (one with a more extensive publication record) from the same candidate, but also randomly assigned candidates with either two childeren, or none

The results from the experiment indicate that gender-biased evaluations of male and female candidates during recruitment processes cannot explain the persistent gender differences at a higher level in academia within the Nordic countries.

Publications and infographics

Carlsson, M., Finseraas, H., Midtbøen, A. H. & Rafnsdòttir, G. L. (2020). Gender Bias in Academic Recruitment? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in the Nordic Region. European Sociological Review, 37(3), 399-410. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcaa050

Midtbøen, A. H., Carlsson, M., Finseraas, H. & Rafnsdòttir, G. L. (2020). Gender bias in academic recruitment? Results from a survey experiment in the Nordic region. Institute for Social Research.