Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia

Ran Abramitzky, Lena Greska, Santiago Perez, Joseph Price, Carlo Schwarz and Fabian Waldinger
Additional contact information
Ran Abramitzky: Stanford University & NBER
Lena Greska: University of Munich
Joseph Price: Brigham Young University & NBER

No 521, Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series from CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition

Abstract: We explore how socio-economic background shapes academia, collecting the largest dataset of U.S. academics’ backgrounds and research output. Individuals from poorer backgrounds have been severely underrepresented for seven decades, especially in humanities and elite universities. Father’s occupation predicts professors’ discipline choice and, thus, the direction of research. While we find no differences in the average number of publications, academics from poorer backgrounds are both more likely to not publish and to have outstanding publication records. Academics from poorer backgrounds introduce more novel scientific concepts, but are less likely to receive recognition, as measured by citations, Nobel Prize nominations, and awards.

Keywords: academics; socio-economic background; science; u.s. census (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-01-15
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Related works:
Working Paper: Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia (2024)
Working Paper: Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia (2024)
Working Paper: Climbing the Ivory Tower: How Socio-Economic Background Shapes Academia (2024)
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