Sabrina Mayer & Justus Rathmann present statistical evidence indicating a persistent difference in research productivity between male and female professors in psychology. Examining the publication records of full psychology professors in Germany, they reveal that female professors are less likely to publish in top ranked journals and are more likely to adopt publication strategies that are focused on producing book […]
Category: gender bias
Differences in men’s and women’s academic productivity persist and are most pronounced for publications in top journals
Sabrina Mayer & Justus Rathmann present statistical evidence indicating a persistent difference in research productivity between male and female professors in psychology. Examining the publication records of full psychology professors in Germany, they reveal that female professors are less likely to publish in top ranked journals and are more likely to adopt publication strategies that are focused on producing book […]
2018 in review: round-up of our top posts on the role of gender in academia
Male authors outnumber their female counterparts on international relations course reading lists by more than five to one Do scholars produce and reproduce a biased representation of the academy when compiling their taught course reading lists? Following a year-long mapping exercise of the university’s entire international relations curriculum by a group of PhD students at the LSE, Gustav Meibauer, Kiran Phull and Gokhan Ciflikli found […]
Improved representation of female scientists in the media can show future generations of women that they belong
The attrition of women from STEM careers has been attributed to many factors, such as work/life balance, biased hiring committees, and prejudiced editorial boards. But might it also be that women still do not see themselves as “real” scientists, or lack female role models? Miranda Hart reports on research examining women’s visibility in two high-profile scientific publications. Not only were […]
Gender equity in health research funding: what do we know, what do we wish we knew, and where do we go from here?
Research shows women continue to face systematic disadvantages in research funding competitions, publishing, hiring, and promotion. Zena Sharman considers what can be done to foster gender equity, including piloting unconscious bias training and developing a clear definition of what is meant by equity and how that informs strategic and operational work. At the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research we […]
Gender and advancement in higher education’s prestige economy
What does it take to climb the career ladder in UK academia? And who gets to the top? Camille B. Kandiko Howson reports on research that highlights the role of prestige and “indicators of esteem” in hiring and promotion decisions. Prestige is found to be a gendered concept, with the indicators of esteem – publication rates, first author status, keynote […]
Research on gender bias receives less attention than research on other types of bias
Bias against women in academia is well-documented. Not only are female scientists underrepresented in academic institutions, particularly in higher ranks, but there are also certain studies that include only male participants, thereby producing biased knowledge. Magdalena Formanowicz, Aleksandra Cislak and Tamar Saguy have studied another form of gender bias among scientists: bias against research on gender bias. Research on gender […]
The role of the self in the research process: reflections on researching the REF as a PhD student
In this short, reflective post, Emily Yarrow considers her experiences as a PhD student researching women’s lived experiences of research evaluation in the UK and particularly the anxieties she felt as a junior researcher interviewing very senior, esteemed academic colleagues. It is important to reflect on the role researchers play in the interviewing and data collection process, and also on […]
How are academic lives sustained? Gender and the ethics of care in the neoliberal accelerated academy
Intensifying work demands under “new managerial” practices are changing academics’ experiences. In this environment, how are academic lives sustained? Which model of science are we engaging in? And what part does gender play? Ester Conesa explores how existing gender biases in the academy are exacerbated by caring work – still mostly taken on by women – not being properly valued […]
The gendered impact agenda – how might more female academics’ research be submitted as REF impact case studies?
As the impact agenda increases in importance, appropriate consideration should be given to its effects on female academics. The REF has obviously gendered implications, with a number of different factors combining to exacerbate existing inequalities in the academy. Emily Yarrow and Julie Davies have examined impact case study submissions to the REF2014 business and management studies unit of assessment and […]