A matter of time? How absence from work affects gender gaps in research productivity.
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| Title: | A matter of time? How absence from work affects gender gaps in research productivity. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Aksnes, Dag W.1 (AUTHOR), Nygaard, Lynn P.2 (AUTHOR) lynn@prio.org, Reiling, Rune Borgan1 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Higher Education (00181560). Apr2026, Vol. 91 Issue 4, p1487-1502. 16p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Academia, *Learned institutions & societies, *Academic achievement, *College teachers, *Gender inequality, Job absenteeism, Parental leave |
| Abstract: | Studies examining gender and research productivity generally show that men produce significantly more publications than women. While controlling for academic position and scientific field reduces the gender gap, some disparity remains. We examine the extent to which accounting for time away from work can further close the gap. Previous studies indicate that women take longer leaves of absence than men, particularly in their early career years, although research productivity metrics normally measure publications produced over a calendar year without adjusting for how much the researcher was working during the previous year. We adjust for the time lost due to parental leaves and sick leaves longer than 2 weeks to examine how the total length of time away from work within a year affects research productivity. Coupling the publication records of 17,000 Norwegian academics with data on their leaves of absence, gender, age, and academic position, we find that while academic field and position explain most of the gender gap in research output, absence also has a distinct contribution: A 2-week absence reduces fractionalized publications by 0.01 the following year, which corresponds to approximately 1% of the mean for men and 1.7% of the mean for women. Each additional day of absence reduces fractionalized publications by another 0.001. Adjusting for absence represents a small but important piece of the puzzle and provides more evidence for the assertion that the more similar the conditions under which men and women produce research, the more similar their output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Higher Education (00181560) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 193684472 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: A matter of time? How absence from work affects gender gaps in research productivity. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Aksnes%2C+Dag+W%2E%22">Aksnes, Dag W.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nygaard%2C+Lynn+P%2E%22">Nygaard, Lynn P.</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> lynn@prio.org</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Reiling%2C+Rune+Borgan%22">Reiling, Rune Borgan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Higher+Education+%2800181560%29%22">Higher Education (00181560)</searchLink>. Apr2026, Vol. 91 Issue 4, p1487-1502. 16p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academia%22">Academia</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learned+institutions+%26+societies%22">Learned institutions & societies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Academic+achievement%22">Academic achievement</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+teachers%22">College teachers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+inequality%22">Gender inequality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Job+absenteeism%22">Job absenteeism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parental+leave%22">Parental leave</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Studies examining gender and research productivity generally show that men produce significantly more publications than women. While controlling for academic position and scientific field reduces the gender gap, some disparity remains. We examine the extent to which accounting for time away from work can further close the gap. Previous studies indicate that women take longer leaves of absence than men, particularly in their early career years, although research productivity metrics normally measure publications produced over a calendar year without adjusting for how much the researcher was working during the previous year. We adjust for the time lost due to parental leaves and sick leaves longer than 2 weeks to examine how the total length of time away from work within a year affects research productivity. Coupling the publication records of 17,000 Norwegian academics with data on their leaves of absence, gender, age, and academic position, we find that while academic field and position explain most of the gender gap in research output, absence also has a distinct contribution: A 2-week absence reduces fractionalized publications by 0.01 the following year, which corresponds to approximately 1% of the mean for men and 1.7% of the mean for women. Each additional day of absence reduces fractionalized publications by another 0.001. Adjusting for absence represents a small but important piece of the puzzle and provides more evidence for the assertion that the more similar the conditions under which men and women produce research, the more similar their output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Higher Education (00181560) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10734-025-01481-5 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 16 StartPage: 1487 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Academia Type: general – SubjectFull: Learned institutions & societies Type: general – SubjectFull: Academic achievement Type: general – SubjectFull: College teachers Type: general – SubjectFull: Gender inequality Type: general – SubjectFull: Job absenteeism Type: general – SubjectFull: Parental leave Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: A matter of time? How absence from work affects gender gaps in research productivity. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Aksnes, Dag W. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Nygaard, Lynn P. – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Reiling, Rune Borgan IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 04 Text: Apr2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00181560 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 91 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: Higher Education (00181560) Type: main |
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