“Gender and Academic Mobility”
What explains the gender gap in academic careers? This paper studies how geographic mobility constraints contribute to gender disparities in academic hiring, using novel administrative data covering the universe of PhD graduates in France (2009-2021) across all academic fields. I link individuals to the full set of job openings in their field to analyze job search behavior and the probability of obtaining a first academic job. First, I show that both men and women apply to positions that are within a shorter distance to their PhD university, but that women are more sensitive to distance. Second, I leverage quasi-random variation in the geographic structure of the job market across fields and cohorts to show that when available jobs are farther away, applications and hiring fall, especially for women. Finally, I quantify the role of mobility constraints in the hiring gap: when evaluated at the same average market distance, women’s stronger sensitivity to distance lowers their probability of obtaining a first academic job in their first year of application by 1.7 percentage points relative to men, representing about 20% of the average hiring rate. Taken together, the findings highlight geographic mobility constraints as a meaningful and previously underexplored mechanism contributing to gender disparities in academic careers.
Presented at: EEA (Bordeaux, 2025); EDGE Conference (Cambridge UK, 2025); PhD Seminar - AMSE (Marseille, 2025); Applied Lunch Seminar - PSE (Paris, 2026); ADRES (Paris, 2026); CORE/IRES internal seminar (Louvain-la-Neuve, 2026); Spring NBER Conference (Boston US, 2026); Applied Econometrics Using Stata (Marseille, 2026); Cournot Seminar (Strasbourg, 2026); Afépop (Strasbourg, 2026). Scheduled: LSE internal seminar (London UK, 2026); AFSE (Nantes, 2026)
“Missing Women in Research” (with Yann Bramoullé and Roberta Ziparo)
We provide the first comprehensive, country-wide analysis of gender gaps in academic trajectories after PhD graduation, covering 30 years and all academic disciplines. Combining data on all French PhD graduates and all academic publications, we document persistent and sizable negative gender gaps. Women are less likely to ever publish than men and publishing women publish less publications than publishing men in all fields of research and career stages. These negative gaps have not declined over time, despite improvements in female representation. They are worse in STEM at the extensive margin, but not at the intensive margin. Our findings provide evidence of substantial and persistent gendered barriers operating early in academic career. We estimate that removing these barriers would increase the population of women in research by about 27%.
Presented at: PhD Seminar - AMSE (Marseille, 2023; 2024); Junior Research Day - Collège de France (Paris, 2024); AFÉPOP (Aubervilliers, 2024); JMA (Lille, 2024); PhD Seminar - CREST (Palaiseau, 2024); LAGV (Marseille, 2024); Empirical Micro Reading Group - Boston University (Boston US, 2025)
“Gender Disparities in French Academic Careers: A Multi-Stage Analysis of Selection”
This project examines the French academic pipeline to identify when and why women become underrepresented in faculty positions: I investigate whether they are less likely to apply, less likely to succeed, or a combination of both. Using comprehensive administrative data combining Thèses.fr doctoral records and administrative data from the Conseil National des Universités (CNU), I analyze gender gaps at each critical transition: from PhD completion through qualification to securing permanent positions. My preliminary findings reveal significant discipline-specific patterns: in biological sciences, female PhD graduates are 3.5% less likely than males to apply for qualification, 8% less likely to pursue permanent positions when qualified, and 20% less likely to secure these positions when applying. In STEM fields, female PhD graduates are 6% less likely than males to apply for qualification, 4% less likely to apply for permanent positions when qualified, and 6% less likely to secure these positions when applying. Social sciences exhibit a reverse trend, with women 6% more likely than men to apply for qualification, with no significant gender differences in subsequent stages. In humanities, I found no significant gender differences across any stage.
Presented at: PhD Seminar - AMSE (Marseille, 2024); IOEA Spring School (Cargèse, 2024); Gender Reading Group - Boston University (Boston US, 2025); Applied Micro Workshop - Boston University (Boston US, 2025); AFÉPOP (Marseille, 2025); Applied Econometrics Using Stata (Marseille, 2025); Cluster Seminar - DIW Berlin (Berlin, 2025); LAGV (Marseille, 2025)
“Hiding the Queen: Anonymous Competitions and Gender Performance in a Randomized Chess Experiment” (with Jose De Sousa and Emma Paladino)
Presented at: HCI Seminar - GDP Center (Boston US, 2025); Behavioral/Experimental Reading Group - Humboldt University (Berlin, 2025)