Evaluating gender equality effects in research and innovation systems

Abstract

Despite the fact that the topic of "women in research and innovation" has been on the agenda for decades and numerous measures have been implemented at both national and supranational levels to improve gender equality in research and innovation systems, it is still unclear which measures and under which conditions these measures are most effective. Even less research has been carried out on the effects of better representation of women in terms of research and innovation. This paper is based on the application of an innovative evaluation framework, which encompasses complexity and theory of change approaches and aims at exploring the link between interventions and their subsequent effects to two case studies. We discuss two major German flagship programmes aiming at increasing the participation of female researchers in the science system, the "Women Professorship Programme" and the "Pact for Research and Innovation". Through the two programmes, we tested and validated the evaluation framework and its indicators. As part of the validation process, a theory of change has been developed for each of the programmes. The theory-based evaluation approach helped not only to identify gender equality impacts but also broader effects on research and innovation that might have otherwise remained undetected. We studied the effects of the two programmes on the number of women in leadership positions and analysed whether an increase in the proportion of women leaders influences publication patterns. Although linear linkages are challenging to establish due to the complexity of the process, the findings suggest that the flagship programmes have contributed not only to higher shares of women researchers but also to improved female publication and citation rates. There are clear benefits for Germany in terms of scientific results from the increased proportion of female researchers in research and innovation.

#TimesUp: tackling gender inequities in marine and fisheries science

“…Institutional and national success in science and science impact therefore relies on fully leveraging the available talent pool (Larivière et al, 2013). Women also tend to publish in new and emerging interdisciplinary fields, resulting in subject innovation, a greater diversity of thinking and a more rapid progression in innovation (Bührer et al, 2020). At a personal level, role-model visibility is proven to improve early career retention in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (Dasgupta, 2011;Drury et al, 2011), highlighting the importance of overcoming gender inequity challenges.…”

“…More publication impact and citations: in genderbalanced disciplines, teams with a high proportion of women are 2.5 times more productive in terms of top-tier publications, book chapters, conference presentations, conference proceedings and citations (Joshi, 2014). In Germany, women publish 77% more of top 10% of the most highly cited articles in their discipline (Bührer et al, 2020).…”

“…Subject innovation and progression: gender equality programmes in Germany have led to a fourfold increase in women, with leading roles in research institutes and a doubling of women university professors since 2008 (Bührer et al, 2020). In UK business, earnings before income and taxes increase by 3.5% for every 10% increase in gender equality (Hunt et al, 2015).…”

Diversidad de género y colaboración para la innovación en las empresas españolas

“…En trabajos como el de Striebing et al (2020) se analiza la proporción de mujeres investigadoras en cuatro sistemas nacionales de innovación (Austria, Dinamarca, Hungría y España), detectándose diferencias significativas no solo en la capacidad innovadora de estos países sino también en el progreso en la igualdad de género en investigación e innovación. Además, en algunos casos tales como el de Alemania, se han definido y adoptado en esta línea medidas y programas que persiguen incrementar el peso de las mujeres investigadoras en los equipos de I+D y con ello el número de publicaciones (Bührer et al, 2020). En España, por su parte, los programas enfocados a la igualdad de género han mejorado y tienen un mayor grado de sofisticación, pero no terminan de impulsar al 100 % la igualdad de género en investigación e innovación (Otero et al, 2020).…”

Reflections on women in internationalization

“…One important point that needs to be emphasized is that inequalities shaping the academic careers of men and women are not new in the academic world (Oleschuk, 2020). Although the concept is not new, the under-representation of women in academia has been discussed more frequently in recent years (Aiston & Fo, 2020;Bührer et al, 2020;Ginther et al, 2016;Sato et al, 2020;Witteman et al, 2019). In general, women researchers constitute a small proportion of the researchers in the world (UNESCO, 2019).…”