Based on previous studies it has been found that women have a smaller chance than men of attaining professorships. It has also been found that gender differences in career development have been observed in many different countries. This study aims to contribute to these discussions by analyzing the extent to which gender differences in career development can be explained by early career opportunities, specifically the prestigious postdoctoral fellowship which is particular to the Swedish university system. This study concluded that women and men have the same probability to achieve a postdoctoral fellowship and that among men and women who have achieved this we observed that they had equal chances of becoming professors. However, it was also shown that women are substantially worse off than men for the study group of those who have not achieved a postdoctoral fellowship. This indicates that a meritocratic system does not seem do discriminate against women whereas as vacancy system seems to do so.