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Reducing STEM gender bias with VIDS (video interventions for diversity in STEM). Open PDF
(2018)
Moss-Racusin, Corinne A.
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Pietri, Evava S.
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Hennes, Erin P.
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Dovidio, John F.
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Brescoll, Victoria L.
Gender biases contribute to the underrepresentation of women in STEM. In response, the scientific community has called for methods to reduce bias, but few validated interventions exist. Thus, an interdisciplinary group of researchers and filmmakers partnered to create VIDS (Video Interventions for Diversity in STEM), which are short videos that expose participants to empirical findings from published gender bias research in 1 of 3 conditions. One condition illustrated findings using narratives (compelling stories), and the second condition presented the same results using expert interviews (straightforward facts). A hybrid condition included both narrative and expert interview videos. Results of two experiments revealed that relative to controls, VIDS successfully reduced gender bias and increased awareness of gender bias, positive attitudes toward women in STEM, anger, empathy, and intentions to engage in behaviors that promote gender parity in STEM. The narratives were particularly impactful for emotions, while the expert interviews most strongly impacted awareness and attitudes. The hybrid condition reflected the strengths of both the narratives and expert interviews (though effects were sometimes slightly weaker than the other conditions). VIDS produced substantial immediate effects among both men and women in the general population and STEM faculty, and effects largely persisted at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record
A “scientific diversity” intervention to reduce gender bias in a sample of life scientists Open PDF
(American Society for Cell Biology, 2016)
Moss-Racusin, C.A.
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van der Toorn, J.
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Dovidio, J.F.
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Brescoll, V.L.
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Graham, M.J.
Mounting experimental evidence suggests that subtle gender biases favoring men contribute to the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including many subfields of the life sciences. However, there are relatively few evaluations of diversity interventions designed to reduce gender biases within the STEM community. Because gender biases distort the meritocratic evaluation and advancement of students, interventions targeting instructors’ biases are particularly needed. We evaluated one such intervention, a workshop called “Scientific Diversity” that was consistent with an established framework guiding the development of diversity interventions designed to reduce biases and was administered to a sample of life science instructors (N=126) at several sessions of the National Academies Summer Institute for Undergraduate Education held nationwide. Evidence emerged indicating the efficacy of the “Scientific Diversity” work-shop, such that participants were more aware of gender bias, expressed less gender bias, and were more willing to engage in actions to reduce gender bias 2 weeks after participating in the intervention compared with 2 weeks before the intervention. Implications for diversity interventions aimed at reducing gender bias and broadening the participation of women in the life sciences are discussed. © 2016 C. A. Moss-Racusin et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education.
Reflections on Gender Analyses of Bibliographic Corpora Open PDF
(2019)
Mihaljević, H.
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Tullney, M.
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Santamaría, L.
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Steinfeldt, C.
The interplay between an academic's gender and their scholarly output is a riveting topic at the intersection of scientometrics, data science, gender studies, and sociology. Its effects can be studied to analyze the role of gender in research productivity, tenure and promotion standards, collaboration and networks, or scientific impact, among others. The typical methodology in this field of research is based on a number of assumptions that are customarily not discussed in detail in the relevant literature, but undoubtedly merit a critical examination. Presumably the most confronting aspect is the categorization of gender. An author's gender is typically inferred from their name, further reduced to a binary feature by an algorithmic procedure. This and subsequent data processing steps introduce biases whose effects are hard to estimate. In this report we describe said problems and discuss the reception and interplay of this line of research within the field. We also outline the effect of obstacles, such as non-availability of data and code for transparent communication. Building on our research on gender effects on scientific publications, we challenge the prevailing methodology in the field and offer a critical reflection on some of its flaws and pitfalls. Our observations are meant to open up the discussion around the need and feasibility of more elaborated approaches to tackle gender in conjunction with analyses of bibliographic sources. Copyright © 2019 Mihaljević, Tullney, Santamaría and Steinfeldt.
Gender aspect of international academic mobility of Russian scientists
(2019)
Malakhov, V.A.
This paper examines to what extent the participation of Russian researchers in international academic mobility vary by gender. Based on the analysis of bibliometric data of the Web of Science system (2008—2017) we identified more than 3000 Russian researchers participating in the international scientific migration. This includes both researchers permanently working abroad and scientists working outside of Russia temporarily. All scientists were sorted by their science research focus and the country of residence (permanent or temporal). A gender analysis was carried out for the resulting database. The results of the analysis showed that academic world of female scientists is less international than that of their male colleagues. Women are especially underrepresented in STEM disciplines, but even in the social sciences and humanities the share of women among researchers working abroad is less than among scientists who have stayed in Russia. The low level of participation of women in international academic mobility is due to the asymmetric distribution of family obligations at later career stages, as well as the low representation of women researchers in STEM disciplines, and it is Russian STEM-researchers (especially physics and mathematics) who are most in demand on the international labor market. The paper argues that it is necessary to improve support programs for international academic mobility, as well as create mechanisms aimed at encouraging women to pursue academic careers. © 2019 Ivanovo State University Publishing. All rights reserved.
Is science built on the shoulders of women' A study of gender differences in contributorship Open PDF
(2016)
Macaluso, B.
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Larivière, V.
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Sugimoto, T.
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Sugimoto, C.R.
Purpose Women remain underrepresented in the production of scientific literature, and relatively little is known regarding the labor roles played by women in the production of knowledge. This study examined labor roles by gender using contributorship data from science and medical journals published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS), which require each author to indicate their contribution to one or more of the following tasks: (1) analyzed the data, (2) conceived and designed the experiments, (3) contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, (4) performed the experiments, and (5) wrote the paper. Method The authors analyzed contribution data from more than 85,000 articles published between 2008 and 2013 in PLOS journals with respect to gender using both descriptive and regression analyses. Results Gender was a significant variable in determining the likelihood of performing a certain task associated with authorship. Women were significantly more likely to be associated with performing experiments, and men were more likely to be associated with all other authorship roles. This holds true controlling for academic age: Although experimentation was associated with academically younger scholars, the gap between male and female contribution to this task remained constant across academic age. Inequalities were observed in the distribution of scientific labor roles. Conclusions These disparities have implications for the production of scholarly knowledge, the evaluation of scholars, and the ethical conduct of science. Adopting the practice of identifying contributorship rather than authorship in scientific journals will allow for greater transparency, accountability, and equitable allocation of resources. © 2016 by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Journals invite too few women to referee Open PDF
(Nature Publishing Group, 2017)
Lerback, Jory
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Hanson, Brooks
Jory Lerback and Brooks Hanson present an analysis that reveals evidence of gender bias in peer review for scholarly publications.
A phenomenological study of factors influencing the gender gap in physics and other STEM-related fields
(American Society for Engineering Education, 2014)
Larkin, T.L.
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Vogel, T.
Current reports on the gender gap in STEM suggest factors influencing career choice between the sexes are not inevitable. Recent decades have documented a clear change in the gender makeup of some STEM disciplines. However, in many areas, the gap has persisted with little or no change in the number of women choosing to pursue a career in a STEM-related field such as Physics. According to recent AIP reports1, 2, women comprise 21% of undergraduate, 21% of graduate, and 19% of doctoral degrees in Physics. Many factors have been studied by scholars as contributing to the dearth of women in Physics and STEM3-8. Factors including the lack of role models, discouragement from the media, sex difference in cognitive skill, and unpleasant experiences related to gender-bias in the classroom have all been suggested as potential reasons why women tend not to pursue a career in Physics or other STEM field. Suggestions from some scholars also indicate that women often tend to seek out careers in which they feel they can make a difference. Unfortunately, the size of the gap in many areas has reached a plateau that hasn't appeared to shift significantly over time. This phenomenological study will look at how individual perceptions of STEM (with an emphasis on Physics) as a career option may influence academic and professional pursuits. To that end, formal interviews with practicing professionals and college students from a range of disciplines will be used as a primary data collection tool. This paper will provide a synthesis of the empirical data collected through these formal interviews. Factors that emerge from this synthesis as having a significant influence on one's perception of STEM as a career choice will be further examined and discussed. By focusing on individual perceptions, this study aims to contribute to the existing empirical database of factors that influence career choice and perpetuate the gender gap in STEMrelated fields such as Physics. The themes that emerge may stimulate further research on this topic and provide suggestions for best practices that may contribute to closing the gap. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2014.
The gender gap in science: How long until women are equally represented? Open PDF
(2018)
Holman, Luke
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Stuart-Fox, Devi
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Hauser, Cindy E.
Women comprise a minority of the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) workforce. Quantifying the gender gap may identify fields that will not reach parity without intervention, reveal underappreciated biases, and inform benchmarks for gender balance among conference speakers, editors, and hiring committees. Using the PubMed and arXiv databases, we estimated the gender of 36 million authors from >100 countries publishing in >6000 journals, covering most STEMM disciplines over the last 15 years, and made a web app allowing easy access to the data (https://lukeholman.github.io/genderGap/). Despite recent progress, the gender gap appears likely to persist for generations, particularly in surgery, computer science, physics, and maths. The gap is especially large in authorship positions associated with seniority, and prestigious journals have fewer women authors. Additionally, we estimate that men are invited by journals to submit papers at approximately double the rate of women. Wealthy countries, notably Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, had fewer women authors than poorer ones. We conclude that the STEMM gender gap will not close without further reforms in education, mentoring, and academic publishing.
Is there gender bias in reviewer selection and publication success rates for the New Zealand Journal of Ecology?
(2014)
Hannah, L. Buckley
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Sciligo, R. Sciligo
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Adair, Karen L.
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Case, Bradley S.
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Monks, Joanne M.
Gender bias in the sciences is a prominent issue. Evidence suggests that more equal involvement of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields leads to a diversity of working styles that can contribute to multiple measures of workplace success, such as better student outcomes in university settings and improved managerial approaches. One of the main ways we can combat gender bias is by increasing awareness.
Quality of evidence revealing subtle gender biases in science is in the eye of the beholder Open PDF
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015)
Handley, Ian M.
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Brown, Elizabeth R.
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Moss-Racusin, Corinne A.
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Smith, Jessi L.
Scientists are trained to evaluate and interpret evidence without bias or subjectivity. Thus, growing evidence revealing a gender bias against women—or favoring men—within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings is provocative and raises questions about the extent to which gender bias may contribute to women’s underrepresentation within STEM fields. To the extent that research illustrating gender bias in STEM is viewed as convincing, the culture of science can begin to address the bias. However, are men and women equally receptive to this type of experimental evidence? This question was tested with three randomized, double-blind experiments—two involving samples from the general public (n = 205 and 303, respectively) and one involving a sample of university STEM and non-STEM faculty (n = 205). In all experiments, participants read an actual journal abstract reporting gender bias in a STEM context (or an altered abstract reporting no gender bias in experiment 3) and evaluated the overall quality of the research. Results across experiments showed that men evaluate the gender-bias research less favorably than women, and, of concern, this gender difference was especially prominent among STEM faculty (experiment 2). These results suggest a relative reluctance among men, especially faculty men within STEM, to accept evidence of gender biases in STEM. This finding is problematic because broadening the participation of underrepresented people in STEM, including women, necessarily requires a widespread willingness (particularly by those in the majority) to acknowledge that bias exists before transformation is possible.

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