Gender Differences in Professional Psychology Awards

Abstract

Gender bias persists in academic psychology. The present study extended previous investigations to professional award recipients. We collated publicly available data on award winners (N = 2701) from 17 national and international personality and social psychology societies from 1968 to 2021. Features of the award including year given, type of award, seniority level, shared with more than one winner, and gender/sex of the recipient were coded. Overall men were more likely to be recognized with professional awards than women, but the proportion of awards won by women has increased over time. Despite an increased share of awards, women were more likely to win awards for service and teaching rather than research contributions. These differences were moderated by year - women were more likely to win service or teaching awards, compared to research awards, after 2000 and 2007, respectively. Women were more likely to win awards at postgraduate/early career levels or open to all levels compared to senior awards. Findings suggest that women’s greater representation in academic psychology in recent years has not yet led to parity in professional recognition and eminence.