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Social origin and gender of doctoral degree holders

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Abstract

Within the scope of this article we went further into the question to what extent particularistic attributes - social origin and gender - can affect selection processes (1) in access to and (2) in later career attainment after achieving the doctoral degree. The analyses are based on a questionnaire survey (n = 2 244) among doctoral degree holders achieving the doctoral degree in six selected disciplines (biology, electrical engineering, German studies, mathematics, social sciences, and business studies/ economics) at German universities. In terms of our first object of investigation, the analyses show that in four out of six disciplines doctoral degree holders are a selected group compared to university graduates with regard to both social origin and gender. In terms of our second object of investigation - the impact of particularistic attributes on several indicators of further career attainment after achieving the doctoral degree (career inside or outside higher education and science, career position and income) - the results point to a stronger impact of gender compared to social origin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Zähringerstr. 24, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Lutz Bornmann (Professorship for Social Psychology and Research on Higher Education)

  2. University of Twente, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS), Twente (, The Netherlands

    Jürgen Enders

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  1. Lutz Bornmann
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Correspondence to Lutz Bornmann.

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Bornmann, L., Enders, J. Social origin and gender of doctoral degree holders. Scientometrics 61, 19–41 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SCIE.0000037360.59788.fb

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