Gender Differences in Experiences of K-Awardees: Beyond Space, Resources and Science

Excerpt

The thought-provoking article by Dr. Holliday and colleagues highlights gender differences among recipients of K awards. Even though these awards include provisions for protected time and resources, a higher proportion of women awardees reported inadequate access to “soft” resources, notably grant administrators and statistical support. The authors suggest that the root cause of this discrepancy may be that women are disadvantaged in the informal negotiations necessary to achieve these less structured resources, either due to an inadequate or less effective skill set, or due to unconscious bias by those with whom they negotiate. The authors further imply that inadequacy of research support may underlie gender discrepancies in publication productivity and securing research funding, and that academic productivity may be inhibited by unfair treatment. Strengths of the study include the robust survey response rate (75 %), the number of awardees studied (1,708), and the statistical methodology that controlled for confounders, including academic rank. …