Female Representation in the Academic Finance Profession

Abstract

We present new data on female representation in the academic finance profession. In our sample of finance faculty from the top-100 U.S. business schools during 2009–2017, only 15.8% are women. The analysis suggests three factors that explain the gender imbalance. First, after controlling for productivity, we find that women tend to have positions at lower-ranked institutions, are less likely to be tenured, and are paid approximately 4% less than men during the 2009-2017 sample period. Second, women tend to publish fewer papers than men. Third, women tend to have more female coauthors, which suggests smaller publication networks. However, time-series analysis suggests disappearing gender gaps in recent years.

Keywords: Tenure; Gender; Salary; Academic Finance Profession

JEL Classification: I23; J16; J24; J44