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Research on women in science and higher education: a bibliometric analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Tahereh Dehdarirad

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Anna Villarroya

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Maite Barrios

    (University of Barcelona)

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to study the development and growth of scientific literature on women in science and higher education. A total of 1415 articles and reviews published between 1991 and 2012 were extracted from the Thomson Reuters Web of Science database. Standard bibliometric indicators and laws (e.g. Price’s, Lotka’s, and Bradford’s laws) were applied to these data. In addition, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) was obtained for each country in order to rank them. The results suggest an upward trend not only in the number of papers but also in the number of authors per paper. However, this increase in the number of authors was not accompanied by greater international collaboration. The interest in gender differences in science extends too many authors (n = 3064), countries (n = 67), and research areas (n = 86). Data showed a high dispersion of the literature and a small set of core journals focused on the topic. Regarding the research areas, the area with the highest frequency of papers was Education and Educational Research. Finally, our results showed that countries with higher levels of inequality (higher GII values) tend to present higher relative values of scientific productivity in the field.

Suggested Citation

  • Tahereh Dehdarirad & Anna Villarroya & Maite Barrios, 2015. "Research on women in science and higher education: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 103(3), pages 795-812, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:103:y:2015:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1574-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-015-1574-x
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    Cited by:

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    3. Jesus Palomo & Cristina Figueroa-Domecq & Pilar Laguna, 2017. "Women, peace and security state-of-art: a bibliometric analysis in social sciences based on SCOPUS database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 113(1), pages 123-148, October.
    4. Chunhai Gao & Sabika Khalid & NGUYEN Van Thang & Endale Tadesse, 2023. "Comparing Apples With Apples: Women Faculty Research Productivity in Vietnamese Higher Education," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    5. Ahmad Firdaus & Mohd Faizal Ab Razak & Ali Feizollah & Ibrahim Abaker Targio Hashem & Mohamad Hazim & Nor Badrul Anuar, 2019. "The rise of “blockchain”: bibliometric analysis of blockchain study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1289-1331, September.
    6. Sandra Krapf & Michaela Kreyenfeld & Katharina Wolf, 2016. "Gendered Authorship and Demographic Research: An Analysis of 50 Years of Demography," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1169-1184, August.
    7. Therese Söderlund & Guy Madison, 2015. "Characteristics of gender studies publications: a bibliometric analysis based on a Swedish population database," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 1347-1387, December.
    8. Weihua Li & Sam Zhang & Zhiming Zheng & Skyler J. Cranmer & Aaron Clauset, 2022. "Untangling the network effects of productivity and prominence among scientists," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender differences; Higher education; Science; Bibliometrics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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