Have women had the same opportunities and options to participate in the work of science, either as scientists or as participants, as men? The evidence suggests not. Although inequities may be decreasing over time, men continue to hold about 70 percent of all research positions in science worldwide.
Why is this the case? There are undoubtedly a broad range of reasons. Gender inequities seem to be embedded in the processes that influence the conduct of research, including what is prioritized, as well as who does research, who is promoted, who becomes leaders, and whose contributions are valued. There has been considerable research on sex-based disparities in the health sciences focusing on how explicit or implicit bias differentially affects investigators. Women may also have a harder time getting hired in science than men. In an experiment, when sex was randomly assigned to curricula vitae, a hiring committee was more likely to choose male candidates. Once settled into scientific jobs, mobility and advancement remain uneven. Women have fewer publications, and as research shows, women on scientific teams are significantly less likely than men to be credited with authorship; both of these contribute to slower career trajectories. Women also have fewer collaborators and less research funding. And more than forty percent of female scientists in the United States leave full-time work in science after their first child.
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