This article explores whether greater levels of national defence spending effectively push women away from research careers in science and engineering due to the biases that defence spending can foster in research and development (R&D) institutions. Defence R&D spending shapes the orientation of R&D both through the direct subsidisation of R&D, as well as through procurement, which creates demand for military technologies. These biases created by defence spending potentially alter and shape career tracks in ways that may be more antithetical to feminine gender norms and job values than those of men, thus reducing women’s participation in research careers and reducing gender diversity among developers of new technology. We evaluate this gender asymmetry empirically through a panel dataset of thirty-three nations. Our findings indicate that greater levels of defence spending are indeed associated with lower participation of women in research careers, particularly in government and higher education.

In the United States, the military is the primary channel through which many are able to obtain supports traditionally provided by the welfare state, such as access to higher education, job training, employment, health care, and so on. However, due to the nature of the military as a highly gendered institution, these social welfare functions are not as accessible for women as they are for men. This amounts to a highly gender-biased state spending pattern that subsidizes substantially more human capital development for men than for women, effectively reinforcing women’s subordinate status in the US economy. JEL classification: B54, B52, Z13