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Gender Differences in Publication Productivity Among Academic Scientists and Engineers in the U.S. and China: Similarities and Differences

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Abstract

Gender differences in science and engineering (S&E) have been studied in various countries. Most of these studies find that women are underrepresented in the S&E workforce and publish less than their male peers. The factors that contribute to gender differences in experience and performance in S&E careers can vary from one country to another, yet they remain underexplored. This paper is among the first to systematically compare gender differences in the publication productivity of academic scientists and engineers with doctoral degrees in the U.S. and China. Findings from negative binomial regressions show that women publish less than their male counterparts in science but not in engineering in the U.S. In China, women do not differ from men in publication productivity in science but publish more than their male counterparts in engineering. In addition, we find that some background variables affect men’s and women’s publication productivity differently. The findings are analyzed in the context of the different cultures of the two fields (science vs. engineering) and of the two countries (the U.S. and China). Limitations and policy implications are also discussed.

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Notes

  1. For instance, agricultural science is an independent field from science (including computer and mathematical, life, and physical sciences) in China, but agricultural science is usually considered as a science in the U.S. In addition, in China, the subfields within agricultural science include statistics, which would be considered as mathematics in the U.S. In this paper, agricultural science in China is grouped into science.

  2. Chinese scientists and engineers also publish in non-SCI journals, mostly in Chinese journals. However, for the purpose of quality control, they are not included in the counts for this study.

  3. Universities overseen by central ministries, such as the Ministry of Education, generally have more research activity than those overseen by provincial or municipal governments.

  4. We performed some preliminary tests to determine whether the zero-inflated negative binomial regression model was better than negative binomial regression because of excessive zeros. Tests failed to show that the zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were better.

  5. Different from the tenure system widely used in the U.S., lifetime employment was adopted by most Chinese universities in 2008. Although Chinese professors also need to publish in international journals to receive promotions and awards, the level of pressure and stress they experience is less than their U.S. counterparts. The promotion system in China is different from that in the U.S. as well, and it usually takes less time for a doctorate recipient to be eligible for promotion review in China than in the U.S. (e.g., in China, a doctorate recipient is eligible for promotion review to the rank of associate professor within 3 years of receiving the doctoral degree, although such review does not guarantee the promotion).

  6. Tables and graphs are available upon request.

  7. Because women doctoral scientists are not similarly disadvantaged, we further run the models within different age groups (below 30, 30-34, 35-39, 40-49, above 50) for scientists and engineers. Both women scientists and engineers have a time period when children have a negative effect on their publication productivity, relative to their male counterparts (or fathers). After that, having children does not have an impact. In the sample of scientists, only 26.4% are in the age range of 35-39, when children have a negative effect on journal publication. In the engineering sample, in contrast, the period susceptible to the effect of children is longer (30-39), and half (51.1%) of the engineers are in this age range. In summary, the different effects of children found in science as opposed to engineering are the result of different age compositions of scientists and engineers in our sample. Therefore, the effect of children on women engineers is not idiosyncratic.

  8. Since a large percentage of Chinese academic scientists and engineers (55.3%), especially the older generation, do not hold a doctoral degree as the highest degree, the Chinese doctoral sample examined here does not represent the whole Chinese science community. We run the same regression models for the Chinese general sample, with education as an additional control variable. Women in the Chinese general sample publish less than their male counterparts in science but not in engineering, similar to the findings in the U.S. sample (doctoral).

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (Grant Nos. 20131089330, 20141081191), Chinese Association of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2008DCYJ01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Arts and Letters, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, 07030-5991, USA

    Yu Tao

  2. Center of Science, Technology, and Society, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Wei Hong

  3. Institute of Science, Technology and Society, Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, Beijing, 100038, China

    Ying Ma

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Tao, Y., Hong, W. & Ma, Y. Gender Differences in Publication Productivity Among Academic Scientists and Engineers in the U.S. and China: Similarities and Differences. Minerva 55, 459–484 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-017-9320-6

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