Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations
Guarino, C. M., & Borden, V. M. H. (2017). Faculty service loads and gender: Are women taking care of the academic family? Research in Higher Education, 58, 672-694. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9454-2
This paper investigates the amount of academic service performed by female versus male faculty. We use 2014 data from a large national survey of faculty at more than 140 institutions as well as 2012 data from an online annual performance reporting system for tenured and tenure-track faculty at two campuses of a large public, Midwestern University. We find evidence in both data sources that, on average, women faculty perform significantly more service than men, controlling for rank, race/ethnicity, and field or department. Our analyses suggest that the male-female differential is driven more by internal service--i.e., service to the university, campus, or department--than external service--i.e., service to the local, national, and international communities--although significant heterogeneity exists across field and discipline in the way gender differentials play out.
(Workplace) Climate, Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Strategies for Improvement
Hall, W., Schmader, T., Inness, M., & Croft, E. (2021). Climate change: An increase in norms for inclusion predicts greater fit and commitment for women in STEM. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211035438
In male-dominated STEM fields, workplace culture is often cited as a factor for women’s attrition. In the present research, we used longitudinal field data to examine how changes in the perceived normative support for gender-inclusive policies and practices over 6 months relate to changes in women’s and men’s experiences of fit and commitment to their organization. Longitudinal analyses of survey data from a sample of 181 engineers revealed that increased perceptions of support for gender-inclusive policies and practices predicted increased organizational commitment only among women, an effect that was mediated by an increase in organizational value fit. Additional analyses suggest that perceptions of change in normative attitudes toward inclusive policies were more predictive of women’s organizational commitment than the awareness that the policies were in place or that one has personally benefitted from them. The implications of an inclusive workplace culture for supporting women’s retention in STEM are discussed.
Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Race/Ethnicity, Strategies for Improvement, Teaching
Handelsman, J., Elgin, S., Estrada, M., Hays, S., Johnson, T., Miller, S., Mingo, V., Shaffer, C., & Williams, J. (2022). Achieving STEM diversity: Fix the classrooms. Science, 376(6597), 1057-1059. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn9515
Achieving equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) requires attracting and retaining college students from diverse backgrounds. Despite decades of calls for action, change has been slow. Recommendations have largely focused on members of underrepresented groups themselves (1) rather than on fixing the classrooms that drive many students out of STEM. Without removing such barriers, funding and programs directed toward underrepresented groups will not transform STEM. Instead, we must fix the classrooms where many students from historically excluded communities (HECs) are discouraged from pursuing STEM. Here, we outline areas that need change and identify steps that can be taken by instructors, academic leadership, and government agencies to drive change at scale (see the table). Research points to active learning practices, welcoming classrooms, and content that is relevant to members of HECs as especially worthy of attention. Such evidence-based classroom practices can benefit all STEM students regardless of their background.
Teaching
Heilman, M. E. & Haynes, M. C. (2005). No credit where credit is due: attributional rationalization of women’s success in male-female teams. Journal of applied Psychology, 90, 905. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.5.905
Diverse teams/perspectives, Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure, Schemas/Stereotypes/Evaluation Bias
Heilman, M. E. (1980). The impact of situational factors on personnel decisions concerning women: Varying the sex composition of the applicant pool. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 26(3), 386-395. https://doi.org/10.1016%2F0030-5073%2880%2990074-4
One hundred male and female MBA students evaluated a woman applicant for a managerial position when the proportion of women in the applicant pool was varied. Results indicated that personnel decisions of both males and females were significantly more unfavorable when women represented 25% or less of the total pool. Additional findings suggest that this effect was mediated by the degree to which sex stereotypes predominated in forming impressions of applicants. The results were interpreted as supportive of the thesis that situational factors can function to reduce the adverse effects of sex stereotypes in employment settings.
Diverse teams/perspectives, Gender/Sex
Heilman, M. E., & Haynes, M. C. (2005). No credit where credit is due: attributional rationalization of women's success in male-female teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(5), 905-916. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.5.905
In 3 experimental studies, the authors explored how ambiguity about the source of a successful joint performance outcome promotes attributional rationalization, negatively affecting evaluations of women. Participants read descriptions of a mixed-sex dyad's work and were asked to evaluate its male and female members. Results indicated that unless the ambiguity about individual contribution to the dyad's successful joint outcome was constrained by providing feedback about individual team member performance (Study 1) or by the way in which the task was said to have been structured (Study 2) or unless the negative expectations about women's performance were challenged by clear evidence of prior work competence (Study 3), female members were devalued as compared with their male counterparts-they were rated as being less competent, less influential, and less likely to have played a leadership role in work on the task. Implications of these results, both theoretical and practical, are discussed.
Funding & Awards, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Mentorship, Race/Ethnicity, Strategies for Improvement
Hinton Jr, A. O., Termini, C. M., Spencer, E. C., Rutaganira, F. U., Chery, D., Roby, R., ... & Palavicino-Maggio, C. B. (2020). Patching the leaks: revitalizing and reimagining the STEM pipeline. Cell, 183(3), 568-575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.09.029
We identify problematic areas throughout the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) pipeline that perpetuate racial disparities in academia. Distinct ways to curtail these disparities include early exposure and access to resources, supportive mentoring networks and comprehensive training programs specifically for racially minoritized students and trainees at each career stage. These actions will revitalize the STEM pipeline.
(Workplace) Climate, Gender/Sex, Mentorship, Race/Ethnicity, Schemas/Stereotypes/Evaluation Bias, Strategies for Improvement
Hinton Jr, A. O., Vue, Z., Termini, C. M., Taylor, B. L., Shuler, H. D., & McReynolds, M. R. (2020). Mentoring minority trainees: minorities in academia face specific challenges that mentors should address to instill confidence. EMBO reports, 21(10), e51269. https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202051269
The art of mentorship was first described in Homer's Odyssey as the character mentor, who imparted wisdom and shared his knowledge with his less-skilled contemporaries. In research, dedicated and personalized mentoring helps young scientists to successfully advance through the career pipeline. Great mentors yield great leaders, but mentorship should be tailored to meet the unique needs of each individual mentee. Minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are particularly susceptible to the harsh scientific landscape; we therefore believe it is necessary to acknowledge specific considerations for mentors training minority students. This article provides some background and advice for mentors to positively influence the trajectory of their trainees from all backgrounds and specific consideration for minority trainees.
Funding & Awards, Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure
Holliday, E., Griffith, K. A., Castro, R. D., Stewart, A., Ubel, P., & Jagsi, R. (2014). Gender differences in resources and negotiation among highly motivated physician-scientists. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 30(4), 401-407. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-014-2988-5
Resources, including space, equipment, funding, personnel, and protected time, are essential in academic medical careers. Negotiation often plays a key role in the distribution of these resources. This study explored gender differences in resources, negotiation behaviors, and negotiation outcomes in a sample of career development awardees. Postal survey of a cohort of 1,708 clinician-researchers with responses from 1,275 (75 % response rate). Researchers who received NIH K08 or K23 awards between 2006 and 2009. We analyzed gender differences in resources, negotiation behaviors, and negotiation outcomes, using regression models adjusted for race, K award type, K award year, degree, academic rank, specialty, and institutional funding. Over one-fifth of respondents reported inadequate access to research space and one-third had asked for increased space or equipment. Perceived adequacy of these physical resources did not differ significantly by gender, but a higher proportion of women reported inadequate access to grants administrators (34.8 %) and statistical support (49.9 %) than men (26.9 %; p = 0.002 and 43.4 %; p = 0.025, respectively). Women were more likely to have asked for reduction in clinical hours (24.1 % vs. 19.3 %; p = 0.02) and to have raised concerns about unfair treatment (50.2 % vs. 38.2 %; p < 0.001). Overall, 42.9 % of women and 35.9 % of men asked for a raise in the two years preceding the survey (p = 0.09), and among those who had asked for increased resources, the likelihood that the request was granted did not differ significantly by gender. Many career development award recipients report resource needs and negotiate for increased resources. Gender differences in perceived access to research support personnel exist even in this select cohort of K awardees. Institutions should provide appropriate training in negotiation and ensure adequate and equitable distribution of resources to promote academic success.
Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure
Holman, L., Stuart-Fox, D., & Hauser, C. E. (2018). The gender gap in science: How long until women are equally represented?. PLoS Biology, 16(4), e2004956. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2004956
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.
Teaching
Hong, L., & Page, S. E. (2004). Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 101(46), 16385-16389.
(Workplace) Climate, Strategies for Improvement, Teaching
Howansky, K., Maimon, M., & Sanchez, D. T. (2022). Identity safety cues predict instructor impressions, belonging, and absences in the psychology classroom. Teaching of Psychology, 49(3), 212–217. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628321990362
Background: Students with marginalized identities report a lack of cultural competence among faculty in higher education classrooms. Identity safety cues (ISCs) signal to minority group members that their identities are valued and respected.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to test for differences in students’ perceptions of their professor, sense of belonging, and academic outcomes when comparing an ISC course with a control course.
Method: We randomly assigned one of two sections of a large social psychology course to receive ISCs while the other section was taught in a control format. The same professor taught both sections.
Results: Participants in the ISC class believed their professor was trying to create an inclusive classroom and disapproved of social inequalities more than participants in the control course. These students also reported a higher sense of belonging and fewer absences.
Conclusion: ISCs were associated with favorable impressions of faculty, a sense of belonging in the classroom, and fewer absences.
Teaching Implications: Professors can make small adjustments to signal identity safety in their classrooms. These ISCs may foster a sense of belonging and motivation to attend the class for learners with diverse identities.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to test for differences in students’ perceptions of their professor, sense of belonging, and academic outcomes when comparing an ISC course with a control course.
Method: We randomly assigned one of two sections of a large social psychology course to receive ISCs while the other section was taught in a control format. The same professor taught both sections.
Results: Participants in the ISC class believed their professor was trying to create an inclusive classroom and disapproved of social inequalities more than participants in the control course. These students also reported a higher sense of belonging and fewer absences.
Conclusion: ISCs were associated with favorable impressions of faculty, a sense of belonging in the classroom, and fewer absences.
Teaching Implications: Professors can make small adjustments to signal identity safety in their classrooms. These ISCs may foster a sense of belonging and motivation to attend the class for learners with diverse identities.
Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure, Publishing
Hunter Wapman, K., Zhang, S., Clauset, A., & Larremore, D. B. (2022). Quantifying hierarchy and dynamics in US faculty hiring and retention. Nature. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05222-x
Faculty hiring and retention determine the composition of the US academic workforce and directly shape educational outcomes, careers, the development and spread of ideas and research priorities. However, hiring and retention are dynamic, reflecting societal and academic priorities, generational turnover and efforts to diversify the professoriate along gender, racial, and socioeconomic lines. A comprehensive study of the structure and dynamics of the US professoriate would elucidate the effects of these efforts and the processes that shape scholarship more broadly. Here we analyse the academic employment and doctoral education of tenure-track faculty at all PhD-granting US universities over the decade 2011–2020, quantifying stark inequalities in faculty production, prestige, retention and gender. Our analyses show universal inequalities in which a small minority of universities supply a large majority of faculty across fields, exacerbated by patterns of attrition and reflecting steep hierarchies of prestige. We identify markedly higher attrition rates among faculty trained outside the United States or employed by their doctoral university. Our results indicate that gains in women’s representation over this decade result from demographic turnover and earlier changes made to hiring, and are unlikely to lead to long-term gender parity in most fields. These analyses quantify the dynamics of US faculty hiring and retention, and will support efforts to improve the organization, composition and scholarship of the US academic workforce.
Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations
Hyde, J. S., Lindberg, S. M., Linn, M. C., Ellis, A. B., & Williams, C. C. (2008). Gender similarities characterize math performance. Science, 321(5888), 494-495. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1160364
Teaching
Kahneman, D. (2006). Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion. Science, 312, 1908–1910. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1129688
Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? A focusing illusion. Science, 312(5782), 1908-1910. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1129688
The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory. People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities. Moreover, the effect of income on life satisfaction seems to be transient. We argue that people exaggerate the contribution of income to happiness because they focus, in part, on conventional achievements when evaluating their life or the lives of others.
(Workplace) Climate, Gender/Sex, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure, Schemas/Stereotypes/Evaluation Bias, Strategies for Improvement
Kang, S. K., & Kaplan, S. (2019). Working toward gender diversity and inclusion in medicine: myths and solutions. The Lancet, 393(10171), 579-586 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)33138-6
Women's representation in science and medicine has slowly increased over the past few decades. However, this rise in numbers of women, or gender diversity, has not been matched by a rise in gender inclusion. Despite increasing representation, women still encounter bias and discrimination when compared with men in these fields across a variety of outcomes, including treatment at school and work, hiring, compensation, evaluation, and promotion. Individual and systemic biases create unwelcome environments for women, particularly for those who additionally identify with other traditionally devalued groups (eg, women of colour). This Review draws on several decades of research in the field of management and its cognate disciplines to identify five myths that continue to perpetuate gender bias and five strategies for improving not only the number of women in medicine, but also their lived experiences, capacity to aspire, and opportunity to succeed. We argue for a move away from a singular focus on interventions aimed at targeting individual attitudes and behaviour to more comprehensive interventions that address structural and systemic changes.
Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations
Kersey, A. J., Csumitta, K. D., & Cantlon, J. F. (2019). Gender similarities in the brain during mathematics development. Nature Partner Journals Science of Learning, 4, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-019-0057-x
Some scientists and public figures have hypothesized that women and men differ in their pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) owing to biological differences in mathematics aptitude. However, little evidence supports such claims. Some studies of children and adults show gender differences in mathematics performance but in those studies it is impossible to disentangle intrinsic, biological differences from sociocultural influences. To investigate the early biology of mathematics and gender, we tested for gender differences in the neural processes of mathematics in young children. We measured 3–10-year-old children’s neural development with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during naturalistic viewing of mathematics education videos. We implemented both frequentist and Bayesian analyses that quantify gender similarities and differences in neural processes. Across all analyses girls and boys showed significant gender similarities in neural functioning, indicating that boys and girls engage the same neural system during mathematics development.
COVID-19, Gender/Sex, Publishing
King, M. M., & Frederickson, M. E. (2021). The pandemic penalty: The gendered effects of COVID-19 on scientific productivity. Socius, 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/237802312110069
Academia serves as a valuable case for studying the effects of social forces on workplace productivity, using a concrete measure of output: scholarly papers. Many academics, especially women, have experienced unprecedented challenges to scholarly productivity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The authors analyze the gender composition of more than 450,000 authorships in the arXiv and bioRxiv scholarly preprint repositories from before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis reveals that the underrepresentation of women scientists in the last authorship position necessary for retention and promotion in the sciences is growing more inequitable. The authors find differences between the arXiv and bioRxiv repositories in how gender affects first, middle, and sole authorship submission rates before and during the pandemic. A review of existing research and theory outlines potential mechanisms underlying this widening gender gap in productivity during COVID-19. The authors aggregate recommendations for institutional change that could ameliorate challenges to women’s productivity during the pandemic and beyond.
Gender/Sex, Grad Workshop, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Strategies for Improvement
Kingma, B., & van Marken Lichtenbelt, W. (2015). Energy consumption in buildings and female thermal demand. Nature Climate Change, 5(12), 1054-1056. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2741
Energy consumption of residential buildings and offices adds up to about 30% of total carbon dioxide emissions; and occupant behaviour contributes to 80% of the variation in energy consumption1. Indoor climate regulations are based on an empirical thermal comfort model that was developed in the 1960s (ref. 2). Standard values for one of its primary variables—metabolic rate—are based on an average male, and may overestimate female metabolic rate by up to 35% (ref. 3). This may cause buildings to be intrinsically non-energy-efficient in providing comfort to females. Therefore, we make a case to use actual metabolic rates. Moreover, with a biophysical analysis we illustrate the effect of miscalculating metabolic rate on female thermal demand. The approach is fundamentally different from current empirical thermal comfort models and builds up predictions from the physical and physiological constraints, rather than statistical association to thermal comfort. It provides a substantiation of the thermal comfort standard on the population level and adds flexibility to predict thermal demand of subpopulations and individuals. Ultimately, an accurate representation of thermal demand of all occupants leads to actual energy consumption predictions and real energy savings of buildings that are designed and operated by the buildings services community.
Teaching
Latu, I. M., Mast, M. S., Lammers, J. & Bombari, D. (2013). Successful female leaders empower women’s behavior in leadership tasks. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 444 – 448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.01.003
Diverse teams/perspectives, Gender/Sex, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure, Schemas/Stereotypes/Evaluation Bias
Latu, I. M., Mast, M. S., Lammers, J., & Bombari, D. (2013). Successful female leaders empower women's behavior in leadership tasks. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 444-448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.01.003
Women are less likely than men to be associated with leadership, and the awareness of this stereotype may un- dermine women's performance in leadership tasks. One way to circumvent this stereotype threat is to expose women to highly successful female role models. Although such exposures are known to decrease women's lead- ership aspirations and self-evaluations, it is currently unknown what the effects of role models are on actual be- havior during a challenging leadership task. We investigated whether highly successful female role models empower women's behavior in a leadership task. In a virtual reality environment, 149 male and female students gave a public speech, while being subtly exposed to either a picture of Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Bill Clinton, or no picture. We recorded the length of speeches as an objective measure of empowered behavior in a stressful leadership task. Perceived speech quality was also coded by independent raters. Women spoke less than men when a Bill Clinton picture or no picture was presented. This gender difference disappeared when a picture of Hillary Clinton or Angela Merkel was presented, with women showing a significant increase when exposed to a female role model compared to a male role model or no role models. Longer speaking times also translated into higher perceived speech quality for female participants. Empowered behavior also mediated the effects of female role models on women's self-evaluated performance. In sum, subtle exposures to highly successful female leaders inspired women's behavior and self-evaluations in stressful leadership tasks.
Gender/Sex, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure, Publishing
Lerchenmueller, M. J., Sorenson, O., & Jena, A. B. (2019). Gender differences in how scientists present the importance of their research: Observational study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 367, l6573. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l6573
Design: Retrospective observational study. Data sources: Titles and abstracts from 101 720 clinical research articles and approximately 6.2 million general life science articles indexed in PubMed and published between 2002 and 2017. Main outcome measures: Analysis of article titles and abstracts to determine whether men and women differ in how positively they present their research through use of terms such as “novel” or “excellent.” For a set of 25 positive terms, we estimated the relative probability of positive framing as a function of the gender composition of the first and last authors, adjusting for scientific journal, year of publication, journal impact, and scientific field. Results: Articles in which both the first and last author were women used at least one of the 25 positive terms in 10.9% of titles or abstracts versus 12.2% for articles involving a male first or last author, corresponding to a 12.3% relative difference (95% CI 5.7% to 18.9%). Gender differences in positive presentation were greatest in high impact clinical journals (impact factor >10), in which women were 21.4% less likely to present research positively. Across all clinical journals, positive presentation was associated with 9.4% (6.6% to 12.2%) higher subsequent citations, and in high impact clinical journals 13.0% (9.5% to 16.5%) higher citations. Results were similar when broadened to general life science articles published in journals indexed by PubMed, suggesting that gender differences in positive word use generalize to broader samples. Conclusions: Clinical articles involving a male first or last author were more likely to present research findings positively in titles and abstracts compared with articles in which both the first and last author were women, particularly in the highest impact journals. Positive presentation of research findings was associated with higher downstream citations.
Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Mentorship, Publishing
Li, W., Aste, T., Caccioli, F., & Livan, G. (2019). Early coauthorship with top scientists predicts success in academic careers. Nature Communications, 10(1), 5170. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13130-4
We examined the long-term impact of coauthorship with established, highly-cited scientists on the careers of junior researchers in four scientific disciplines. Here, using matched pair analysis, we find that junior researchers who coauthor work with top scientists enjoy a persistent competitive advantage throughout the rest of their careers, compared to peers with similar early career profiles but without top coauthors. Such early coauthorship predicts a higher probability of repeatedly coauthoring work with top-cited scientists, and, ultimately, a higher probability of becoming one. Junior researchers affiliated with less prestigious institutions show the most benefits from coauthorship with a top scientist. As a consequence, we argue that such institutions may hold vast amounts of untapped potential, which may be realised by improving access to top scientists.
Funding & Awards, Gender/Sex, Group Disparities & intergroup relations, Hiring, Promotion, & Tenure
Lincoln, A., Pincus, S., & Leboy, P. (2011). Scholars' awards go mainly to men. Nature, 469, 472. https://doi.org/10.1038/469472a