Study of biologists quitting academia reveals hidden gender gaps

Women scientists abandon academic publishing earlier than their male counterparts, even in biological science disciplines where representation is roughly equal.

Study tracked scientific publications of more than 86,000 scientists in 38 countries working in neuroscience, biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, immunology, microbiology and agriculture – disciplines known to have a large number of women. The results show that, 19 years after the publication of their first article, only 26% of women researchers in these fields continue their career as editors, compared to 36% of men.

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“It’s very easy to assume that science will organically evolve toward equality — and this study shows that’s not the case,” says Cassidy Sugimoto, an information scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Atlanta. This is an “important reminder to us that we must remain vigilant in our efforts to promote equality in science,” she adds.

The study results, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, were published on the preprint server bioRxiv on December 16.¹.

Gender gaps

Academic career researcher Marek Kwiek and computer scientist Lukasz Szymula, both at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, followed careers in academic publishing of two groups of biologists: 34,970 who started publishing in 2000 and 51,208 who started publishing in 2010. “We wanted to take a closer look at areas where women are already well represented,” Kwiek says.

Nearly 46% of the 2000 group and 52% of the 2010 group were women – but despite this balanced representation, men were more likely to pursue careers in publishing. In biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology and neuroscience, men were 40% more likely than women to continue publishing 19 years after publishing their first article. In immunology, microbiology and agriculture, the gap was smaller, with men 16-20% more likely than women to continue publishing after age 19 (see “Leaving science”). “Gender parity or balance doesn’t really guarantee equal opportunities for survival in science,” says Kwiek.