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Mind the gender gap: COVID-19 lockdown effects on gender differences in preprint submissions
Iñaki Ucar1, Margarita Torre2, Antonio Elías3
1UC3M-Santander Big Data Institute, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain.
Plos One
|March 25, 2022
Summary
The COVID-19 lockdown negatively impacted academic gender parity. Research shows the proportion of male authors increased, and COVID-19 research saw a significant gender gap, setting back progress.
Area of Science:
- Bibliometrics
- Sociology of Science
- Gender Studies
Background:
- The academic gender gap persists despite gradual narrowing.
- Concerns exist that the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown exacerbated this gap.
- Preprint data offers a method to assess research productivity changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on male and female academics' research productivity.
- To analyze changes in author gender proportions in preprints before and during the 2020 lockdown.
- To investigate gender disparities in COVID-19-related research publications.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 307,902 unique research articles from 5 major preprint repositories.
- Data collection spanned January to May for years 2017 through 2020.
- Comparison of author gender distribution in general preprints and COVID-19-specific preprints during lockdown.
Main Results:
- The proportion of female authors in preprints had been steadily increasing prior to 2020.
- During the 2020 lockdown, the proportion of male authors in preprints significantly increased.
- Male authors were disproportionately represented in COVID-19-related articles compared to women.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 lockdown caused an approximate 1-year setback in overall academic gender parity.
- COVID-19 research fields experienced an additional 1.5-year setback in gender parity.
- The pandemic's impact on academic research productivity requires further investigation regarding gendered outcomes.
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