  Underrepresentation of women in the academic system is a problem common to
many countries, often associated with gender discrimination. In the Italian
academic context in particular, favoritism is recognized as a diffuse
phenomenon affecting hiring and career advancement. One of the questions that
naturally arises is whether women who do assume decisional roles, having
witnessed other phenomena of discrimination, would practice less favoritism
than men in similar positions. Our analysis refers to the particular case of
favoritism in the work of university selection committees responsible for
career advancement. We observe a moderate positive association between
competitions with expected outcomes and the fact the committee president is a
woman. Although committees presided by women give more weight to scientific
merit than those presided by men, favoritism still occurs. In fact, in the case
the committee president is a woman, the single most important factor for the
success of a candidate is joint research with the president; while in the case
of male presidents, it is the years together in the same university.
