[Paper Review] COVID-19 amplifies gender disparities in research

Goran Murić, Kristina Lerman+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 10, 2020

scientometrics and bibliometrics research35 references20 citations

TL;DR

This study analyzes gender disparities in scientific publishing during the COVID-19 pandemic using data from biomedical preprint servers and Springer-Nature journals. It finds that the proportion of female researchers publishing dropped significantly across disciplines—especially in COVID-19-related biomedical research—and that these disparities were more severe in lower-income countries, highlighting how global crises exacerbate existing gender inequalities in science.

ABSTRACT

Early evidence suggests that women, including female researchers, are disproportionately affected by the \mbox{COVID-19} pandemic, with negative consequences to their productivity. Here, we test this hypothesis by analyzing the proportion of male and female researchers that publish scientific papers during the pandemic. We use data from biomedical preprint servers and Springer-Nature journals to show that the fraction of women publishing during the pandemic drops significantly across disciplines and research topics, after controlling for temporal trends. The impact is particularly pronounced for biomedical papers related to COVID-19 research. Further, by geocoding author's affiliations, we show that gender disparities are exacerbated in poorer countries, even though these countries had less of a gender gap in research prior to the pandemic. Our results illustrate how exceptional events like a global pandemic can further amplify gender inequalities in research. Our work could inform fairer scientific evaluation practices, especially for early-career female researchers who may be disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Motivation & Objective

• To investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected the publication output of female researchers.
• To assess how gender disparities in research productivity evolved during the pandemic across different disciplines and regions.
• To examine whether pre-existing gender gaps in research were amplified in lower-income countries during the pandemic.
• To inform more equitable scientific evaluation practices, particularly for early-career female researchers impacted by pandemic-related disruptions.

Proposed method

• Data were collected from biomedical preprint servers and Springer-Nature journals to track publication rates of male and female researchers during the pandemic.
• Multivariate regression models were used to control for temporal trends and isolate the effect of gender on publication output.
• Author affiliations were geocoded to assess regional differences in gender disparities, particularly comparing high- and low-income countries.
• The analysis focused on variations in publication rates across research topics, with special attention to COVID-19-related biomedical research.
• The study compared publication trends before and during the pandemic to identify shifts in gender representation.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Did the proportion of female researchers publishing scientific papers decline significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels?
• RQ2 How did the gender gap in research productivity vary across different scientific disciplines and research topics?
• RQ3 Was the amplification of gender disparities in research more pronounced in lower-income countries despite their smaller pre-pandemic gender gaps?
• RQ4 To what extent did the surge in COVID-19-related biomedical research contribute to the observed gender disparities?

Key findings

• The fraction of women publishing in scientific journals dropped significantly during the pandemic across all disciplines, even after controlling for temporal trends.
• The decline in female publication rates was most pronounced in biomedical research related to COVID-19.
• Gender disparities in research productivity were exacerbated in lower-income countries, despite these nations having smaller pre-pandemic gender gaps in research.
• The study identifies a systemic amplification of existing gender inequalities in science during exceptional global events like the pandemic.