Gender Gap in Returns to Publications.

Gender equity in science depends not only on who participates in research, but also on how their work is rewarded. We examine gender gaps in pay, credit attribution, and monetary returns to research productivity across major academic disciplines using a novel dataset combining salary information and publication records for professors at U.S. public universities. Our results indicate an unconditional gender pay gap of 15.4%, with substantial variation across disciplines, ranging from 5.5% in agricultural sciences to 20.9% in social sciences. After controlling for experience, academic fields, and research productivity, a pay gap of 4.9% remains unexplained, suggesting potential discrimination. We also uncover a distinct gender gap in credit attribution: female faculty receive lower compensation compared to male peers for co-authored publications, whereas solo-authored publications by women consistently yield positive returns. Finally, there is no robust evidence of a significant gender gap in monetary returns to publications—a novel contribution that has not been addressed in existing research.