Gender Disparities in International Research Collaboration: A Study of 25,000 University Professors

Abstract

In this large-scale research based on bibliometric, biographical and administrative data, we examine how gender disparities in international research collaboration differ by collaboration intensity, academic position, age, and academic discipline. The following are the major findings: (1) While female scientists exhibit a higher rate of general, national, and institutional collaboration, male scientists exhibit a higher rate of international collaboration. (2) An aggregated picture of gender disparities hides a more nuanced cross-disciplinary picture of them. (3) An analysis of international research collaboration at three separate intensity levels (low, medium, and high) reveals that male scientists dominate in international collaboration at each level. However, at each level, there are specific disciplines in which females collaborate internationally more than males. Furthermore (4), gender disparities in international research collaboration are clearly linked with age: they are the lowest and statistically insignificant for young scientists and the highest and statistically significant for the oldest scientists. Finally, we estimate the odds ratios of being involved in international research collaboration using an analytical linear logistic model. The examined sample includes 25,463 internationally visible Polish university professors from 85 universities, grouped into 24 disciplines, and 158,743 Scopus-indexed articles.

Gender Equity in STEM in Higher Education

“…Engineers who were men continued to be paid more than women engineers (Wahrenburg & Weldi, 2007). Moreover, women are promoted less frequently, win fewer research grants when they stay in academia (Nimmesgern, 2016), establish fewer international collaborations (Zippel, 2017), and show less international collaboration patterns than men (Kwiek & Roszka, 2020;Larivière et al, 2013), which is a crucial driver for academic career development and scientific productivity (Wagner, 2018).…”

Reflections on women in internationalization

“…In particular, most of the previous studies were conducted with a focus on academic career stories of women, women, and leadership, the relationship between career and balance for women (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987;Eagly & Carli, 2007;Hacıfazlıoglu, 2010;Hoskins, 2015;Madsen, 2008;Ozkanlı & White, 2009;Tucker & Bryan, 1991). Some research has emphasized the subjects of gender and scientific careers (Fox, 2020;Huang et al, 2020), gender disparities in international research collaboration (Kwiek & Roszka, 2020), women academics and research productivity (Aiston & Jung, 2015) while others has focused on a Bordieuan lens and women (Acker, 2010;Blackmore & Sachs, 2007;Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992;Tasci-Kaya, 2016). Considering this background in literature, some feminist scholars (Armstrong, 2020;Arnot & Weiner, 1987;Barrett, 1988;Breeze & Taylor, 2020;Erny, 2014;Holvino, 2010;Lorber, 2010;Nehere, 2016;Stevi, 1998;Van Zoonen, 2002;Young, 1986) have considered that women are under-represented in academia.…”

“…Scientific studies on gender productivity, collaborations, and recent assessments of gender inequalities show that these concepts have changed over time, albeit slowly (Huang et al, 2020;Kwiek & Roszka, 2020). In particular, a study found that Polish women academics constitute a productive and internationalized part of Polish academicians (43.6%), and Poland has a relatively high proportion of professors compared to most Western European countries (Kwak & Roszka, 2020).…”

“…In particular, a study found that Polish women academics constitute a productive and internationalized part of Polish academicians (43.6%), and Poland has a relatively high proportion of professors compared to most Western European countries (Kwak & Roszka, 2020). While this rate was 24.1% according to the 2016 report, a more recent report in 2018 suggest that the said rate continues to increase (European Commission, 2019; Kwiek & Roszka, 2020;Kwiek, 2020b). As the participation of women in academia increases, the context in which gender inequalities in international research collaboration are analysed also changes (Kwiek & Roszka, 2020).…”

“…While this rate was 24.1% according to the 2016 report, a more recent report in 2018 suggest that the said rate continues to increase (European Commission, 2019; Kwiek & Roszka, 2020;Kwiek, 2020b). As the participation of women in academia increases, the context in which gender inequalities in international research collaboration are analysed also changes (Kwiek & Roszka, 2020). In recent years, researchers have been conducting further bibliometric studies about gender inequalities in the scientific field (Diezmann & Grieshaber, 2019;Kwiek, 2020b;Madison & Fahlman, 2020).…”