The Effect of Gender‐sorting on Propensity to Coauthor: Implications for Academic Promotion

A cohort sample of Ph.D. economists indicates a significant propensity for researchers to select coauthors of the same sex. This gender‐sorting contributes to lower article production for women. Further, we find evidence of bias in academic promotion when single‐authored and coauthored articles carry the same weight in promotion and salary decisions. The evidence explains, in part, why women academics wait longer for promotion and are not as likely to be promoted as men. Among the effects of gender‐sorting is self‐selection of women into larger departments where they are more likely to find colleagues of the same sex.