Do Children Derail Women from the CEO Track?

Gender disparities in becoming a CEO are pronounced, and women who become CEOs, especially of large firms, are less likely to have children or be married. We study the effects of children and marriage on becoming a CEO, using longitudinal administrative data covering the universe of tax-registered firms in Costa Rica, matched to universal civil registry records that provide the timing of childbirth and marriage. We find that first childbirth is followed by a persistent decline in women’s probability of becoming a CEO, but no comparable decline for men and some evidence that CEO attainment rises. Marriage displays a different but still divergent pattern: it is associated with higher subsequent CEO attainment for men, but little change for women. Changes around childbirth account for a substantial share of the overall gender difference in CEO rates. Finally, we find evidence consistent with household specialization as a potential mechanism. Around marriage and first childbirth, women’s formal employment, earnings, and share of household earnings decline, while men become more central to household earnings as their partners reduce formal employment.