Women comprise the majority of students and early-career scholars in psychology, yet they are less likely to remain active in research over time. This pattern raises a central question: At what stages of academic careers do women disproportionately leave academia, and what factors drive their attrition? Using large-scale bibliometric data tracking 78,216 psychologists who began publishing between 2000 and 2014, we examine gender differences in research career attrition operationalized through publishing activity across the full trajectory from entry onward. Although women accounted for more than 60\% of new entrants, they experienced higher attrition rates than men, with the gender gap peaking approximately five years after first publication. Early-career performance, particularly first-authored publications, was the strongest predictor of subsequent retention, whereas last-authored publications were most closely associated with continued activity at later career stages. Collaboration patterns and institutional context also shaped career persistence, though less strongly than publication indicators. Notably, gender differences in research attrition persisted even after accounting for these career determinants, especially during early career stages. These findings suggest that gender inequality in psychology is driven less by recruitment than by differential retention over time. Addressing early-career vulnerability may therefore be essential to achieving equitable representation in senior academic leadership within the discipline.

翻译：女性占心理学学生和早期职业学者的大多数，但随着时间推移，她们持续从事研究的可能性较低。这一现象引出一个核心问题：在学术生涯的哪些阶段，女性会不成比例地离开学术界，又是什么因素驱动了她们的流失？通过追踪2000年至2014年间开始发表论文的78,216名心理学家的大规模文献计量数据，我们考察了研究职业流失中的性别差异——这一流失以从进入学术领域起的完整轨迹中的发表活动来操作化定义。尽管女性占新进入者的60%以上，但她们的流失率高于男性，性别差距在首次发表后大约五年达到峰值。早期职业表现，尤其是作为第一作者发表的论文，是后续留任的最强预测因子；而在职业后期，末位作者的发表与持续活动关联最为紧密。合作模式与机构背景也影响职业持久性，但其强度低于发表指标。值得注意的是，即使在控制了这些职业决定因素后，研究流失中的性别差异依然存在，尤其是在早期职业阶段。这些发现表明，心理学的性别不平等更多源于随时间的差异留任，而非招聘环节。因此，解决早期职业阶段的脆弱性对于在该学科高层学术领导层实现公平代表性至关重要。