Doing Visibility : Understanding Gender and Discipline Differences in Science Communication on Social Media and in the Press

Nowadays, visibility is playing an increasingly important role in science communication. The topic is particularly significant for female experts, as their visibility not only inspires other women but also challenges gender stereotypes in academia. This article provides the first insights into the actual public visibility of scientific experts in Germany and presents potential factors that influence visibility. The analysis is based on the theoretical concept of doing visibility and identifies factors that influence the decision to increase visibility via social media. Our complex dataset comprises 139 experts (59 from computer science and 80 from social sciences), who took part in our online survey about visibility and personal information. Additionally, we tracked the respondent’s online footprint to ascertain their actual visibility in social media and press. The study reveals significant differences in creating visibility and the perception of visibility by sex and discipline. Computer scientists are more active on social media, while male social scientists are more visible in the press. Male computer scientists (57%) post their work on social media most frequently, followed by female computer scientists (35%), female social scientists (24%), and male social scientists (17%). Furthermore, the engagement on social media depends on the discipline, age, and media affinity of the experts. Overall, female experts gain less visibility on LinkedIn and in the press, although the gender differences in IT are smaller in this respect. Based on the results, we discuss potential reasons for the unequal distribution of visibility and suggest targeted interventions to close the gender visibility gap, such as (social) media or interview training. In addition, organisations and media representatives should be trained to actively contribute to breaking down gender stereotypes.