The past several decades have seen more women enter science. Yet women remain disproportionately underrepresented in top positions in science and face different career outcomes compared to men, including opportunities for advancement, job roles and responsibilities, and available resources. Understanding the reasons for this lack of representation is important because science is increasingly a team-based enterprise. Diversity among team members – across fields, regions, and identity characteristics, including gender – is often thought to catalyze innovation and promote creativity towards addressing science’s most intractable problems. Theories about how scientists collaborate often assume that everyone benefits equally from their connections with others; however, knowledge production is also influenced by the role of status and identity in interactive contexts. Focusing on the generalizability of network theories, the work of this project looks at whether the collaborative context affects scientific outcomes differently for men and women scientists.  Our research adds to our understanding of how knowledge is created and shared in global collaborative science communities. It also tackles important issues related to the ongoing efforts to increase participation in STEM fields.

Our research adopts a network analytic approach using the large-scale bibliographic database, Scopus. Scopus provides a comprehensive source for citation information that allows for the construction of unbounded co-authorship networks that include intra- and inter-disciplinary co-authorship ties across time and on a global scale. In a set of three inquiries, we examine if and when men and women benefit, differentially, from resource-rich collaborative ties, through cumulative advantage, and from tendencies toward gender homophily (status) in collaborative activity over time (and during the peak pandemic period). The project also tackles an unresolved puzzle regarding the innovative value of research specialization alongside collaborative brokerage, and the interaction of specialization and brokerage with gender on innovation and the generation of “good ideas”.  This work has implications not only for scholars of science, but also for the development of science and innovation policy that seeks to bolster the engagement of all scientists in the production of science knowledge and the development of new innovations. Sustaining the career development and collaborative relations of a talented and diverse workforce has implications not only for more equitable outcomes between men and women in science, but also for national and international economic and social prosperity.

Contact gender-co-authorship-research[AT]googlegroups[DOT]com to get more information on the project.