Historical comparison of gender inequality in scientific careers across countries and disciplines
Abstract
Empirical evidence suggests significant gender differences in the total productivity and impact of academic careers across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Paradoxically, the increase in the number of women academics over the past 60 years has increased these gender differences. Yet, we find that men and women publish a comparable number of papers per year and have equivalent career-wise impact for the same total number of publications. This suggests the productivity and impact of gender differences are explained by different publishing career lengths and dropout rates. This comprehensive picture of gender inequality in academic publishing can help rephrase the conversation around the sustainability of women’s careers in academia, with important consequences for institutions and policy makers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Feb 18, 2020
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1914221117
Entities
People
- Albert-László Barabási
- Alexander J. Gates
- Junming Huang
- Roberta Sinatra
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Central European University
- Harvard Medical School
- IT University of Copenhagen
- Institute for Scientific Interchange
- John Templeton Foundation
- Northeastern University
- Princeton University
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China