Is There Gender Discrimination in Named Professorships? An Econometric Analysis of Economics Departments in the US South

This study examines the correlates of the probability that an individual academician holds a named professorship. Named professorships, like other positions within an organization, are determined by a mixture of market and non-market forces. Thus, both merit (both past and expected future productivity) and discrimination may play a role. Regression results and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition tests presented here support a conclusion of gender discrimination in the named professorship process at American institutions of higher education. Specifically, it is found that gender discrimination results in a 7.6 percentage point disadvantaae for females (relative to males) regarding the likelihood of holding a named professorship in economics