IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v129y2024i6d10.1007_s11192-024-05018-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender disparities in research fields in Russia: dissertation authors and their mentors

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Chechik

    (European University at St. Petersburg)

Abstract

This study examines gender disparities in research fields as measured by scientific output in dissertations at two levels within the Russian academic system: PhD and the more advanced Doctor of Science (DS). The data for this study were extracted from over 250,000 dissertations spanning from 2005 to 2016. The chosen data source offers several advantages over bibliometric data for the purpose of this study: (a) it provides representative data, including the Social Sciences and Humanities and STEM fields; (b) gender disambiguation is straightforward due to the gendered nature of Russian patronyms; (c) it allows for easier attribution of text, as there is no need to attribute it to the first author in multi-authored publications; (d) it provides insights into the career stage by differentiating between PhD and DS authors, as well as between PhD and DS mentors. The results of this study reveal a gender imbalance across research fields and academic career levels. Furthermore, our observations indicate that male mentors more frequently collaborate with male authors, and female mentors with female authors, exceeding what would be expected by random chance. This gender homophily is evident in most research fields. While the results largely confirm findings from studies conducted in other countries, the four advantages mentioned above make this study an essential extension of studies based on bibliometric data. This research sheds light on the gender structure within research fields in Russia and invites nuanced discussions about achieving gender equality in the context of identified gender homophily.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Chechik, 2024. "Gender disparities in research fields in Russia: dissertation authors and their mentors," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(6), pages 3341-3358, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05018-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-024-05018-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-024-05018-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-024-05018-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gallen, Yana & Wasserman, Melanie, 2023. "Does information affect homophily?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    2. Anna Abalkina & Alexander Libman, 2020. "The real costs of plagiarism: Russian governors, plagiarized PhD theses, and infrastructure in Russian regions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2793-2820, December.
    3. Gaule, Patrick & Piacentini, Mario, 2018. "An advisor like me? Advisor gender and post-graduate careers in science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 805-813.
    4. Scott E. Carrell & Marianne E. Page & James E. West, 2010. "Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1101-1144.
    5. Peter van den Besselaar & Ulf Sandström, 2016. "Gender differences in research performance and its impact on careers: a longitudinal case study," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(1), pages 143-162, January.
    6. Philippe Mongeon & Adèle Paul-Hus, 2016. "The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a comparative analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(1), pages 213-228, January.
    7. Grant Lewison & Valentina Markusova, 2011. "Female researchers in Russia: have they become more visible?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(1), pages 139-152, October.
    8. Bedoor AlShebli & Kinga Makovi & Talal Rahwan, 2020. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: The association between early career informal mentorship in academic collaborations and junior author performance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Marina Pilkina & Andrey Lovakov, 2022. "Gender disparities in Russian academia: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3577-3591, June.
    10. Vincent Larivière & Chaoqun Ni & Yves Gingras & Blaise Cronin & Cassidy R. Sugimoto, 2013. "Bibliometrics: Global gender disparities in science," Nature, Nature, vol. 504(7479), pages 211-213, December.
    11. Adèle Paul-Hus & Rébecca L. Bouvier & Chaoqun Ni & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Vladimir Pislyakov & Vincent Larivière, 2015. "Forty years of gender disparities in Russian science: a historical bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 102(2), pages 1541-1553, February.
    12. Luke Holman & Devi Stuart-Fox & Cindy E Hauser, 2018. "The gender gap in science: How long until women are equally represented?," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(4), pages 1-20, April.
    13. Rodrigo Sánchez-Jiménez & Iuliana Botezan & Jesús Barrasa-Rodríguez & Mari Carmen Suárez-Figueroa & Manuel Blázquez-Ochando, 2023. "Gender imbalance in doctoral education: an analysis of the Spanish university system (1977–2021)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2577-2599, April.
    14. Catherine Porter & Danila Serra, 2020. "Gender Differences in the Choice of Major: The Importance of Female Role Models," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 226-254, July.
    15. Serena Canaan & Pierre Mouganie, 2023. "The Impact of Advisor Gender on Female Students’ STEM Enrollment and Persistence," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(2), pages 593-632.
    16. Duarte-Martínez, V. & Cobo, M.J. & López-Herrera, A.G., 2022. "Uncovering patterns in the supervision of Spanish theses: a comprehensive analysis," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    17. Isabelle Régner & Catherine Thinus-Blanc & Agnès Netter & Toni Schmader & Pascal Huguet, 2019. "Committees with implicit biases promote fewer women when they do not believe gender bias exists," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(11), pages 1171-1179, November.
    18. Christiana Hilmer & Michael Hilmer, 2007. "Women Helping Women, Men Helping Women? Same-Gender Mentoring, Initial Job Placements, and Early Career Publishing Success for Economics PhDs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(2), pages 422-426, May.
    19. Anna Villarroya & Maite Barrios & Angel Borrego & Amparo Frías, 2008. "PhD theses in Spain: A gender study covering the years 1990–2004," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 77(3), pages 469-483, December.
    20. Martín-Martín, Alberto & Orduna-Malea, Enrique & Thelwall, Mike & Delgado López-Cózar, Emilio, 2018. "Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: A systematic comparison of citations in 252 subject categories," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1160-1177.
    21. Nakajima, Kazuki & Liu, Ruodan & Shudo, Kazuyuki & Masuda, Naoki, 2023. "Quantifying gender imbalance in East Asian academia: Research career and citation practice," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    22. Luke Holman & Claire Morandin, 2019. "Researchers collaborate with same-gendered colleagues more often than expected across the life sciences," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arjun Prakash & Jeevan John Varghese & Shruti Aggarwal, 2024. "Gender of gender studies: examining regional and gender-based disparities in scholarly publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4471-4493, July.
    2. Sánchez-Jiménez, Rodrigo & Guerrero-Castillo, Pablo & Guerrero-Bote, Vicente P. & Halevi, Gali & De-Moya-Anegón, Félix, 2024. "Analysis of the distribution of authorship by gender in scientific output: A global perspective," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3).
    3. Canaan, Serena & Mouganie, Pierre, 2019. "Female Science Advisors and the STEM Gender Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 12415, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Nataly Matias-Rayme & Iuliana Botezan & Mari Carmen Suárez-Figueroa & Rodrigo Sánchez-Jiménez, 2024. "Gender assignment in doctoral theses: revisiting Teseo with a method based on cultural consensus theory," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(7), pages 4553-4572, July.
    5. Ho Fai Chan & Benno Torgler, 2020. "Gender differences in performance of top cited scientists by field and country," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2421-2447, December.
    6. Rodrigo Sánchez-Jiménez & Iuliana Botezan & Jesús Barrasa-Rodríguez & Mari Carmen Suárez-Figueroa & Manuel Blázquez-Ochando, 2023. "Gender imbalance in doctoral education: an analysis of the Spanish university system (1977–2021)," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2577-2599, April.
    7. Emre Özel, 2024. "What is Gender Bias in Grant Peer review?," Working Papers halshs-03862027, HAL.
    8. Lin Zhang & Yuanyuan Shang & Ying Huang & Gunnar Sivertsen, 2022. "Gender differences among active reviewers: an investigation based on publons," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(1), pages 145-179, January.
    9. Takao Kato & Yang Song, 2022. "Advising, gender, and performance: Evidence from a university with exogenous adviser–student gender match," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 121-141, January.
    10. Kwiek, Marek & Roszka, Wojciech, 2021. "Gender-based homophily in research: A large-scale study of man-woman collaboration," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    11. Kwiek, Marek & Szymula, Łukasz, 2024. "Growth of Science and Women: Methodological Challenges of Using Structured Big Data," SocArXiv w34pr, Center for Open Science.
    12. Zhang, Lin & Shang, Yuanyuan & HUANG, Ying & Sivertsen, Gunnar, 2021. "Gender differences among active reviewers: an investigation based on Publons," SocArXiv 4z6w8, Center for Open Science.
    13. Mike Thelwall, 2020. "Female citation impact superiority 1996–2018 in six out of seven English‐speaking nations," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(8), pages 979-990, August.
    14. Zhang, Ming-Ze & Wang, Tang-Rong & Lyu, Peng-Hui & Chen, Qi-Mei & Li, Ze-Xia & Ngai, Eric W.T., 2024. "Impact of gender composition of academic teams on disruptive output," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    15. Itzik Fadlon & Frederik Plesner Lyngse & Torben Heien Nielsen, 2022. "Early Career Setbacks and Women’s Career-Family Trade-Off," CEBI working paper series 22-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    16. Jamal El-Ouahi & Vincent Larivière, 2023. "On the lack of women researchers in the Middle East and North Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4321-4348, August.
    17. Hamid R. Jamali & Alireza Abbasi, 2023. "Gender gaps in Australian research publishing, citation and co-authorship," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(5), pages 2879-2893, May.
    18. Nakajima, Kazuki & Liu, Ruodan & Shudo, Kazuyuki & Masuda, Naoki, 2023. "Quantifying gender imbalance in East Asian academia: Research career and citation practice," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4).
    19. Arve, Malin & Valasek, Justin, 2023. "Underrepresentation, Quotas and Quality: A dynamic argument for reform," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 8/2023, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    20. Anahita Hajibabaei & Andrea Schiffauerova & Ashkan Ebadi, 2023. "Women and key positions in scientific collaboration networks: analyzing central scientists’ profiles in the artificial intelligence ecosystem through a gender lens," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1219-1240, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:129:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s11192-024-05018-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.