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

Yu Tao, Wei Hong, Ying Ma

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)459-484
Number of pages26
JournalMinerva
Volume55
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2017

Keywords

  • Cross-national comparison
  • Gender differences
  • Publication productivity
  • Science and engineering

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