Women have a lower chance of obtaining a Ph.D. with honors: study

Female Ph.D. candidates at universities are less likely to graduate cum laude than their male counterparts, even with the same evaluators, according to a study by the University of Amsterdam published on Wednesday.

The study analyzed 5,239 cum laude graduates in the Netherlands from 2011 to 2021. Cum laude is a distinction bestowed upon only 5 percent of all dissertations. “This makes the awarding of cum laude distinctions one of the clearest manifestations of the search for excellence that permeates academia,” according to the researchers.

For this honor, candidates were evaluated by a committee, but there are no strict criteria; it is up to the committee members to decide if the research is among the top in the field, leaving the determination of excellence to their subjective interpretation.

According to the story, of all male candidates, nearly 6.6 percent graduated cum laude. Among female candidates, nearly 3.7 percent achieved this distinction. Overall, the likelihood of a woman graduating cum laude is half that of a man's.

The researchers found that the disparity between men and women is greatest when they are evaluated by a committee composed entirely of men. And when the number of women in the evaluation committees increases, the gender gap diminishes.

“This finding indicates the potential role of homophily – male evaluators favouring male candidates - in evaluation outcomes and highlights the critical role of committee composition in mitigating gender biases,” said Professor Thijs Bol, who led the research.

Bol hopes that by highlighting the link between gender and academic recognition at the start of careers, this study will lead to a reevaluation of current practices and “help our academic community on the path to a more equitable and inclusive future.”