Women scientists are less likely to receive authorship or be named in patents related to the work they do than their male counterparts – including in areas such as healthcare where women dominate – the data show.
This gender gap may help explain well-documented differences in the apparent contributions of male and female scientists, such as Rosalind Franklin, whose major contribution to the discovery of DNA structure was initially unrecognized because it was not cited in the main article. for Nature by James Watson and Francis Creek.
“We have known for a long time that women publish and patent lower than men. But because previous data never showed who participated in the study, no one knows why, “said Professor Julia Lane of New York University in the United States, who is leading the new study.
Lane and her colleagues analyzed administrative data for research projects conducted at 52 U.S. colleges and universities between 2013 and 2016. They compared data on 128,859 scientists with 39,426 journal articles and 7,675 patents, looking at which people worked on individual projects, have received credit and not.
The study, also published in Nature, suggests that Rosalind Franklin was far from unique in that she did not receive the credit she deserved for her work. It has been found that, on average, in all positions and fields, men are about twice as likely to be mentioned in a scientific paper or patent by their research team than women.
This gap is seen in female-dominated areas such as healthcare, as well as male-dominated areas such as engineering, and was particularly evident in the earliest stages of women’s careers. For example, only 15 out of 100 post-graduate women have ever been cited as the author of a publication, compared with 21 out of 100 of their male counterparts.
“There is a clear difference between the percentage by which women and men are listed as co-authors of publications,” Lane said. “The gap is strong, permanent and independent of the research field. I am afraid that this will prevent young women from pursuing science as a career.
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The team also surveyed more than 2,400 published scholars, asking if they had ever been excluded from a paper they contributed to and why they thought it had happened. 43% of women reported being excluded from publication, compared to 38% of men. The most common explanation was that others underestimated their contribution, but women were twice as likely to cite discrimination or bias as an explanation, while men were more likely to say that their contribution did not guarantee authorship.
Dr Tina Joshi, a professor of molecular microbiology at the University of Plymouth, said: “This is a welcome study that highlights gender inequalities that many women continue to face in academia. We can continue to tackle this inequality as an academic community by promoting dialogue on equality, diversity and inclusion, and working together to thank all researchers for their contributions. “
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