Men obtain PhDs cum laude twice as often

Men obtain PhDs cum laude twice as often

Across all disciplines, men obtain PhDs cum laude almost twice as often as women. It also appears that male candidates are more likely to do so the more men there are on the assessment committee. 

This is stated in a pre-publication of a study by Thijs Bol, sociologist at the University of Amsterdam and vice-president of De Jonge Akademie, a group of relatively young top scientists. He bases himself on the assessments of more than five thousand former candidates who obtained their PhDs at “a major Dutch university” between 2011 and 2021.

Bol did not want to answer any questions about the study yet. The paper has yet to be assessed by peer reviewers of the academic journal in which he plans to publish it.

About five per cent of all dissertations receive the predicate cum laude from review committees. This happens when the doctoral student has distinguished himself on several criteria and thus has conducted outstanding research. (HOP, PT)