Do the long work hours required by many high-paying professions inhibit the entry of women? I investigate this question by studying a 2003 policy that capped the average workweek for medical residents at 80 hours. Using data on the universe of US medical school graduates, I find that when a specialty reduces its weekly hours, more women enter the specialty, whereas there is little change in men’s entry. I provide evidence that the increase in women is due to changes in labour supply, rather than labour demand. At the residency program level, I document that baseline female representation predicts female entry after the reform. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the reallocation of women among medical specialties due to the hours reduction can close the physician gender wage gap by 11%.

This paper documents gender differences in the career paths of novice politicians. Using trajectories of over 11,000 candidates for California local offices and a regression discontinuity approach, I investigate the persistence of candidates after they win or lose elections. Losing an election causes over 50% more attrition among female than male candidates. Yet the gender gap in persistence depends on the setting: there is a smaller gap among candidates for high female representation offices and among candidates with prior elective experience. I discuss how the expected costs and benefits of running again potentially explain the gender gap in persistence.

We provide the first systematic account of summer declines in women's labor market activity. From May to July, US women's employment-to-population ratio declines 1.1pp, whereas men's rises; women's hours worked fall 9.8%, twice the decline among men. School closures for summer break provide a unifying explanation. The summer drop aligns with cross-state differences in school closure timing, is concentrated among mothers with young school-aged children, and coincides with increased time spent on childcare. Gender differences both within and across jobs explain gender gaps in summer exits from employment. Women's summer work interruptions contribute to gender gaps in pay.