The lack of women at the top of the academic ladder is driven by unequal childcare responsibilities

Cairo, Sofie; Ivandic, Ria; Lassen, Anne Sophie; Tartari, Valentina

The lack of women at the top of the academic ladder is driven by unequal childcare responsibilities

Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandic, Anne Sophie Lassen and Valentina Tartari

Motherhood, and the unequal childcare responsibilities that follow, explain a large share of the observed gender gap in academic employment. Sofie Cairo, Ria Ivandic, Anne Sophie Lassen and Valentina Tartari find that the demands of childcare and mobility constraints, reinforced by the nature of research work, are the key drivers for women's differing career trajectories following motherhood.

8 June 2026

LSE Impact

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/06/08/the-lack-of-women-at-the-top-of-the-academic-ladder-is-driven-by-unequal-childcare-responsibilities/

This Blog is published under the centre's Labour programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Gender in the labour market