{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T17:39:13Z","timestamp":1786556353014,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786492800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The University of Trento","award":["ATENEO_Progetti di Ricerca_2020_Covid 19"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ATENEO_Progetti di Ricerca_2020_Covid 19"]}]},{"name":"The University of Trento","award":["ATENEO_Progetti di Ricerca_2020_Covid 19"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ATENEO_Progetti di Ricerca_2020_Covid 19"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The interplay between career progression and fertility remains a central theme in the scholarly debate on academia. Past research has largely examined the influence of parenthood on academic careers, revealing a motherhood penalty for women and mixed results for men. The converse\u2014whether and how career advancements shape fertility decisions\u2014remains underexplored. This contribution pioneers the study of the relationship between academic career progression, specifically tenure attainment, and fertility for academic women and men. Drawing on unique primary data from a large sample of Italian academics, this study employs discrete-time event-history models to analyze transitions to first and second childbirths, and logistic regression models to assess short-term fertility intentions by career stage and gender. Results reveal that job stability facilitates the transition to parenthood: tenure significantly increases the hazard of becoming a parent for men and, when obtained before age 35, for women. Tenure also significantly boosts short-term fertility intentions among childless women. Instead, tenure is unrelated to the transition to a second birth for either women or men. The positive association between tenure and fertility raises important concerns. Gender differences in the upper age limits to fecundity translate into shorter reproductive lifespans for women than for men. In academia, these differences are exacerbated by women\u2019s later age of promotion compared to men. This results in a considerably shorter post-tenure fertility window for women, leading to higher rates of childlessness and lower fertility compared to men. Policies aimed at reducing gender disparities in academia should address these differences in fertility by supporting academic women in transitioning to parenthood.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0353232","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]],"date-time":"2026-08-12T17:23:08Z","timestamp":1786555388000},"page":"e0353232","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The best time to become a parent: The relationship between tenure and fertility among academics"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-0844-7724","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Olga","family":"Gorodetskaya","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Agnese","family":"Vitali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Tocchioni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"Minello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,12]]},"reference":[{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0353232.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4609","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1914221117","article-title":"Historical comparison of gender inequality in scientific careers across countries and disciplines","volume":"117","author":"J Huang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"key":"pone.0353232.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.7554\/eLife.78909","article-title":"How parenthood contributes to gender gaps in academia","volume":"11","author":"X Zheng","year":"2022","journal-title":"Elife"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0353232.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.abd1996","article-title":"The unequal impact of parenthood in academia","volume":"7","author":"AC Morgan","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Adv"},{"key":"pone.0353232.ref004","volume-title":"Women in science: Career processes and outcomes","author":"Y Xie","year":"2003"},{"key":"pone.0353232.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"498","DOI":"10.1007\/s11199-022-01324-y","article-title":"Gendered Impact of Caregiving Responsibilities on Tenure Track Faculty Parents\u2019 Professional Lives","volume":"87","author":"AC Moors","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sex Roles"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0353232.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"22300","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-26258-z","article-title":"The relationship between parenting engagement and academic performance","volume":"12","author":"GE Derrick","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0353232.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1080\/1366880042000245443","article-title":"The academic life course, time pressures and gender inequality","volume":"7","author":"JA Jacobs","year":"2004","journal-title":"Community, Work & Family"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0353232.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"252","DOI":"10.1177\/000271620459600104","article-title":"Marriage and Baby Blues: Redefining Gender Equity in the Academy","volume":"596","author":"MA Mason","year":"2004","journal-title":"The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0353232.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"875","DOI":"10.1080\/03075079.2020.1817888","article-title":"Publication or pregnancy? 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