title: The Role of Gender in the Employment, Career Perception and Research Performance of Recent PhD Graduates from Dutch Universities.
abstract: Recent decades have seen a sharp increase in the number of female PhD graduates in the Netherlands. Currently, the share of females among newly graduated PhDs is almost on par with that of males. A considerable body of scientific studies has investigated the role of gender in the academic workplace. However, the role of gender in the careers of all PhD graduates, including those outside academia, has been studied less. In this study, we investigate gender differences in type of job, occupation, career perception and research performance of recent PhDs. The study is based on a survey of persons who obtained a PhD from one of five Dutch universities between 2008 and early 2012. We show that gender differences in post-PhD careers are non-existent in some aspects studied, but there are small differences in other aspects, such as sector of employment, type of contract, involvement in teaching and management, and career perception. In contrast, male and female PhDs differ sharply on two factors. The first is field of PhD, females being heavily underrepresented in engineering and the natural sciences. The second is part-time employment, females being much more likely to work part-time than males, especially if they work in the Netherlands. In later career stages, the combination of the small and large differences can be presumed to affect the career progression of female PhDs through cumulative disadvantage.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cathelijn J F
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Waaijer
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Centre for Graduate and Research Schools, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.|Tilburg Law School, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sonneveld
authors.affiliation: Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Simone E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Buitendijk
authors.affiliation: Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cornelis A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: van Bochove
authors.affiliation: Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Inge C M
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: van der Weijden
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002321:Career Choice; D004500:Education, Graduate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D014495:Universities