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Assessment of gender divide in scientific communities

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio De Nicola

    (Casaccia Research Centre)

  • Gregorio D’Agostino

    (Casaccia Research Centre)

Abstract

Increasing evidence of women’s under-representation in some scientific disciplines is prompting researchers to expand our understanding of this social phenomenon. Moreover, any countermeasures proposed to eliminate this under-representation should be tailored to the actual reasons for this different participation. Here, we take a multi-dimensional approach to assessing gender differences in science by representing scientific communities as social networks, and using data analytics, complexity science methods, and semantic methods to measure gender differences in the context, the attitude and the success of scientists. We apply this approach to four scientific communities in the two fields of computer science and information systems using the network of authors at four different conferences. For each discipline, one conference is based in Italy and attracts mostly Italians, while one conference is international in both location and participants. The present paper provides evidence against common narratives that women’s under-representation is due to women’s limited skills and/or less social centrality.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio De Nicola & Gregorio D’Agostino, 2021. "Assessment of gender divide in scientific communities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 3807-3840, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:126:y:2021:i:5:d:10.1007_s11192-021-03885-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-03885-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Wenxuan Shi & Renli Wu, 2024. "Women’s strength in science: exploring the influence of female participation on research impact and innovation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4529-4551, July.
    3. Truc, Alexandre & Claveau, François & Herfeld, Catherine & Larivière, Vincent, 2024. "Gender Homogeneity in Philosophy and Methodology of Economics: Evidence from Publication Patterns," SocArXiv ck6s9, Center for Open Science.
    4. Zhang, Guangyao & Xu, Shenmeng & Sun, Yao & Jiang, Chunlin & Wang, Xianwen, 2022. "Understanding the peer review endeavor in scientific publishing," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    5. Antonio De Nicola & Maria Luisa Villani, 2021. "Smart City Ontologies and Their Applications: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-40, May.

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