Publishing Gap for Women in Science
Hi friends of women in science,
Sonia Pressman Fuentes and others recently alerted me to a new paper on women's publications in STEM. As we know, Ceci and Williams' meta-analysis convinced them that this is no longer a problem. However this study did not suport that conclusion. Scott Jaschlik, writing for Issues in Higher Education (here), pointed out that the study, published in PLOS One, shows women do indeed publish less than men, still today.
The study looked for causes, and pointed the finger of blame at unequal treatment in allocation of department resources, the very issue that Nancy Hopkins brought out at MIT many years ago. Sizes of labs, funds for startup, support for graduate assistants, access to research slush funds, etc may be at the root of much of the discrepancy they found. There was a clear trend for more women's disadvantage the more faculty members in that field must rely on departmental resource allocations. For example, molecular biology had a very large discrepancy, while industrial engineering was on the opposite end of the spectrum, needing least department support and having the smallest discrepancy between men's and women's productivity. He quoted Luis Amaral, one of the co-authors of the study, saying "As you need more resources, you see females publishing at lower rates. That's very suggestive of causality."
Amaral also noted the recent study in PNAS that we've discussed on this Forum, showing lower ratings of women vs men with the same CVs and recommendations, which indicated ongoing unconscious bias. Jaschlik quoted again, 'Amaral said, it is likely that those starting their academic careers are being judged by many people at least in part on gender, even if those doing the judging don't intend to be biased."'
cheers,
Laura
I researched this topic and others and have presented strategies for success in STEM fields for women in my new book: Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation: Inspiration and Strategies for Women available through ELSEVIER Academic Press and via Amazon. I am also interested in featuring STEM professionals on my website to highlight the successes and challenges of women in STEM to further develop the network of support for on another. As a woman and African American woman in STEM, I have faced many battles! I'd love to hear yours. http://pamelamccauleybush.com/
To judge impact in industry we look for qualitative factors that assess how the field changed after a publication or result is shared with the field. For example, we all agree that most publications are incremental. They add value and may be well cited, but that doesn't mean they have actual impact as judged by how someone changed their work based on that publication.
You could look at research grant topics and publications within a field to make the call, but it would require field specific experts. That's more what the Faculty of 1000 is designed to do I think.
It would not be easy which is why we don't do it!
Helen
Hi all,
Interesting points Millie and Helen. I think your experience and mine about the quality of paper a woman writes compared to a man, in general, seem similar. Wonder if there are data out there on this point? I doubt if impact (citations) would capture the difference, given the male-male networks that women don't always get connected to. So how could one measure quality if we wished to do such a study?
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
Thanks for bringing this issue up again. I think bias plays a large role in the gap at both the funding level and department level. At the department level there is also bias in obtaining high quality graduate students to carry out such work and a genuine desire by most women to interact with smaller lab groups that produce higher quality science.
I recall several studies showing that although women publish less, when they do publish their papers are higher quality. That has been the experience with my mentors. Their work is elegant and complete, and they don't play the "duplication" game of publishing essentially the same work in multiple journals as many men do.
I don't think such studies take those factors into account often enough.
My two cents...
Helen
Hi Laura,
I am in molecular biology, and we do need a lot from our departments. I don't think ours gives us less space or money, but it's a little harder to get release time and I think they nominate men for awards much more than women. Well, the chairs tend to be men, and they tend to do the nominations, so it's not too surprising. The one area that resonates here is graduate assistants. I have not collected the data but maybe this will inspire me to do it and ask for fair play.
MR
Hi Delilah,
I do think a big meta-analysis as Ceci and Williams did and have done before may miss the details of how individual women are treated. That's almost inevitable. So you could be right. Wish you more success in that arena in future.
cheers,
Laura
Dear Laura,
I'm an engineer and while it's true I don't need much from my department, I still think it's harder for women to publish in my field. I think it's journal reviewer bias, although Ceci and Williams think they ruled that out. Just my two cents worth.
DRQ
