Does advisor-doctor gender match help female doctoral students’ academic career development? Evidence from a top research university in china

This paper contributes to a growing body of literature on the relationship between advisor-doctor gender match and female doctoral students’ research productivity and academic career acquisition. Utilizing administrative data and publication data of doctoral students who graduated from 2008 to 2017 at a top research university in China, we found a gradual increase in the proportion of female doctoral students from 33 to 43% over the past decade, indicating greater access to doctoral education for women in this institution. However, female doctoral students are less likely to obtain faculty positions at elite universities compared to their male counterparts upon graduation. Notably, the chances of obtaining such positions are significantly higher when their advisors are females, especially in non-STEM professional fields, suggesting that advisor-doctor gender match helps improve the disadvantaged status of female doctoral students in academic careers. Further analysis reveals that female doctoral students working with female advisors have significantly more English research publications and research collaborations compared to those with male advisors. These findings provide important implications not only for females’ academic career development but also for the advancement of doctorate education.