Explaining the Decline of the Male Advantage in Academic Promotion: A Mixed Age–Cohort–Period Approach.

Mathieu Arbogast , Cems & Cresppa-GTM

Understanding persistent gender inequalities in academic careers requires a demographic perspective that accounts for both individual trajectories and institutional contexts. This study draws on longitudinal HR data covering all permanent researchers in a single large French public research centre (2009–2024) to analyse gendered promotion patterns from junior (rank B) to senior positions (rank A). While the overall “male advantage” in access to senior ranks has steadily declined, the underlying mechanisms prove more complex than a simple convergence over time. Using a mixed approach that combines age–cohort–period analysis with gender-focused organisational perspectives, we show that no single factor can explain the narrowing gender gap. Age at promotion has increased for both men and women, and women continue to be promoted at slightly older ages, contradicting the expectation of a closing age gap. By contrast, promotion rates display a clear period effect: after 2017, women’s probability of promotion becomes systematically higher than men’s, coinciding with centre-wide gender equality policies. However, substantial inter-institute variation persists across the organisation’s ten disciplinary branches, pointing to field-specific cultures that shape career progression differently for men and women. These results demonstrate the need for an integrated demographic and institutional analysis of academic careers. The observed reduction of the male advantage stems from the interaction between macro-level policy interventions, institute-level cultures, and compositional dynamics such as increased female recruitment. Overall, the longitudinal evidence highlights that gender equality in academic promotion emerges not from a single driver, but from the cumulative effects of demographic processes and organisational change.

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 Presented in Session 76. The Gendered Dimension of Human Capital