Elsevier publishes new Gender Report

Elsevier’s latest global analysis reveals progress toward gender parity. However, gender inequality remains across geographies and subject areas in terms of publication outputs, citations, awarded grants and collaborations.

The report, titled The Researcher Journey Through a Gender Lens, examines research participation, career progression and perceptions across the European Union and 15 countries globally in 26 subject areas. The aim of the report is to better understand the role gender plays in the global research enterprise. It also shares data-driven insights with governments, funders and institutions worldwide to inspire evidence-based policy and interventions and inform further studies.

Key Findings

• Research participation: The ratio of women to men among all authors in the last five years is more equal than a decade ago. Men are more highly represented among authors with a long publication history while women are highly represented among authors with a short publication history.
• Research footprint: On average, women researchers author fewer publications than men in every country, regardless of authorship position. The least difference in the number of publications by women compared to men is observed among first authors, and the biggest difference is observed among all authors. However, among first authors, the average citation impact of men is higher than that of women, suggesting gender bias in citation practice.
• Publishing careers and mobility: The percentage of women among all authors in the cohort declines over time (between the year of authors’ first publication in 2009 up to 2018) in all countries and regions except Portugal. In every country, the percentage of women who continue to publish is lower than men who continue to publish.
• Collaboration networks: Across many subject areas and countries, men tend to have more co-authors than women and this difference is wider for authors with a longer publication history. Women and men are more similar in the way they are connected to their potential collaborative space (second-order collaborators) through their direct collaborators.