Nanotechnology researchers’ collaboration relationships: A gender analysis of access to scientific information

Abstract

Women are underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly at higher levels of organizations. This paper investigates the impact this underrepresentation has on the processes of interpersonal collaboration in nanotechnology. Analyses are conducted to assess: 1) the comparative tie strength of women's and men's collaborations; 2) whether women and men gain equal access to scientific information through collaborators; 3) which tie characteristics are associated with access to information for women and men; and 4) whether women and men acquire equivalent amounts of information by strengthening ties. Our results show that overall tie strength is less for women's collaborations, and that women acquire less strategic information through collaborators. Women and men rely on different tie characteristics in accessing information, but are equally effective in acquiring additional information resources by strengthening ties. The paper demonstrates that the underrepresentation of women in STEM impacts on the interpersonal processes of scientific collaboration, to the disadvantage of women scientists.

Using the prisms of gender and rank to interpret research collaboration power dynamics

“…The relationship between marital status and productivity is complex (Fox, 2005). Focusing on a social network analysis of the nanotechnology field, Villanueva-Felez et al (2015) found that women receive less information from collaborators, enjoy lower levels of tie strength, and tend to use different aspects of social ties in their work, which may also affect productivity. We would be remiss if we did not point out that publication productivity is only one component of the women-in-science story: declining gender gaps in publication productivity do not mean that the problems facing women in academic science are solved (Grant et al, 2000), but gender differences in collaboration may certainly be related to one important outcome of collaboration, publications.…”

Do women in science form more diverse research networks than men? An analysis of Spanish biomedical scientists

“…Policy makers need to take account of the fact that the coordination and integration efforts involved in collaborations among heterogeneous actors, may not be gender-neutral [85]. Women's access to scientific information is affected negatively by the smaller number of professional collaborations among women in some scientific areas, and their generally lower status and more junior academic positions [86]. The positive impact on innovation of women in brokerage roles is likely to be reduced by the small presence of women in decision-making positions in institutional scientific settings.…”

Author Impact Metrics in Communication Sciences and Disorder Research

“…They found that lower publication rates by women were significantly correlated with the amount of research resources typically needed. Last, the lack of professional networks involving women has been identified as a possible detriment to scholarly productivity (Durbin, 2011;Kyvik & Teigen, 1996;Villanueva-Felez, 2015). Indeed, women had fewer coauthors than men (see Figure 4 and Table 6), a pattern that may have contributed to fewer research collaborations and hence scholarly production.…”