Photo by Tim Kraaijvanger on Unsplash

Becoming a parent changes academic careers, but not equally. A new working paper, co-authored by researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and other universities, finds that motherhood leads to a sharp and lasting drop in women’s academic employment, research output and chances of promotion.

Drawing on data from more than 13,000 researchers working at Danish universities between 1996 and 2017, the study tracks careers from PhD enrollment through early academic life. The researchers follow the same individuals over time, comparing their careers before and after they have children, and estimating how their paths would have developed if they had not become parents. They also compare parents to researchers who did not have children.

They found that men and women follow similar routes before having children; however, after the first child, their trajectories split.

Eight years after becoming parents, women are 29 percent less likely to be working at a university compared to a situation in which they would not have had a child – twice the drop observed for men (14 percent). In practice, this translates into about one in ten mothers leaving the academic workforce after childbirth compared to about one in 20 men.

“Parenthood is the moment when gender gaps in academia really open up,” says Valentina Tartari, Chaired Professor at the House of Innovation at SSE. “Before children, men and women’s trajectory looks very similar. After, their careers move in very different directions.”

A ‘leaky pipeline’ begins early

The study shows that the biggest impact is not slower career progression but exit. Women are far more likely than men to leave academia altogether after having children. This early exit explains much of the gender gap at senior levels.

Child penalties account for at least 70 percent of the gender gap in academic employment and more than 40 percent of the gap in tenure positions, the researchers find. Even among those who stay, differences remain.

Mothers are 23 percent less likely to hold a tenured position eight years after their first child, while fathers’ chances are largely unaffected by the arrival of a child. At the same time, mothers’ research output drops significantly, ending up 31 percent lower than fathers’ over the same period.

Importantly, the study finds no evidence that women have lower career ambitions. Among PhD students, men and women report similar aspirations and preferences for academic careers.

“Women are not opting out because they lack ambition,” says Sofie Cairo, Assistant Professor at CBS and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich. “They face constraints that make it harder to stay and progress.”

From left: Valentina Tartari (photo by Juliana Wolf Garcindo) and Sofie Cairo (photo by Weigang Fotografi)

Childcare, not choice, drives the gap

The data points to one crucial explanation: unequal childcare responsibilities. Despite widespread support for equal sharing, mothers take on a disproportionate share of care.

Survey data show that women and men alike are five times more likely to say that mothers – not fathers – are the primary caregivers in their household, especially for demanding and unpredictable tasks like night-time care, sick days, and doctor visits.

These responsibilities directly affect work patterns. Mothers of young children work fewer hours and face more interruptions, which matters in a profession where output, such as publications and citations, is closely tracked and rewarded.

“The way academic performance is measured can amplify these effects,” says Valentina Tartari. “Even short-term drops in productivity can have long-term career consequences.”

Why this matters beyond academia

The findings highlight a broader challenge: even in a country like Denmark, with generous parental leave and childcare policies, gender gaps persist in high-skilled careers.

Academia is often seen as flexible but like many other competitive professions, it also rewards constant productivity and job mobility. This makes it a useful case for understanding why gender gaps remain at the top of many fields.

The study also highlights the importance of workplace environments, particularly female role models. Women trained in departments with few or no senior women face larger career penalties after becoming mothers, suggesting that visible career paths matter. Strengthening mentorship, increasing representation in senior positions and creating more supportive research environments could help reduce these gaps.

For society, the stakes are high. When women leave research careers, valuable skills and perspectives are lost.

“This is not just about fairness,” says Valentina Tartari. “When talented researchers leave, we all lose out on knowledge and innovation.”

Researchers at WZB Berlin, University of Zagreb and the London School of Economics and Political Science also contributed to this paper.

Working paper

“Parenthood and the career ladder: evidence from academia”, Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandic, Anne Sophie Lassen, Valentina Tartari, published by Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, 2026

For more information, please contact

Valentina Tartari
Chaired Professor, House of Innovation, Stockholm School of Economics
Email: valentina.tartari@hhs.se
Phone: +46 76 311 1278