Work

Gender differences in the aims and impacts of research

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: This study uses mixed methods – classical citation analysis, altmetric analysis, a survey with researchers as respondents, and text analysis of the abstracts of scientific articles – to investigate gender differences in the aims and impacts of research. We find that male researchers more often value and engage in research mainly aimed at scientific progress, which is more cited. Female researchers more often value and engage in research mainly aimed at contributing to societal progress, which has more abstract views (usage). The gender differences are observed among researchers who work in the same field of research and have the same age and academic position. Our findings have implications for evaluation and funding policies and practices. A critical discussion of how societal engagement versus citation impact is valued, and how funding criteria reflect gender differences, is warranted.

Source: Scientometrics

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-021-04171-y

Authors: Lin Zhang, Gunnar Sivertsen, Huiying Du, Ying Huang, Wolfgang Glänzel

Institutions: Wuhan University, KU Leuven, Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power

Language: English

Topic: scientometrics and bibliometrics research

Subfield: Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Norges Forskningsråd, National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences, National Social Science Fund of China