Persistent pandemic: The unequal impact of COVID labor on early career academics
Autor/in:
Ballif, Edmée; Zinn, Isabelle
Quelle: Gend Work Organ (Gender, Work and Organization), (2023)
Inhalt: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only highlighted preexisting inequalities in academia but has also exacerbated them while giving rise to novel forms of disparities. Drawing upon our experiences as women, parents, and early career academics (ECAs) in Switzerland and enriched by feminist theory on reproductive labor and carework, we examine the unequal impacts of the pandemic. First, our analysis reveals how the pandemic disproportionately impacted ECAs, a group already in a position of precarity within academia. Second, we identify the broad range of tasks brought about by the pandemic as “COVID labor”. This essential labor—undervalued, invisible, and often unpaid—had a particularly negative impact on ECAs. Third, looking at various intersections of difference, we emphasize that the experience of COVID labor was far from uniform among ECAs with institutional responses disregarding its extent and unequal distribution. In conclusion, we underscore the importance of acknowledging the long-term consequences of COVID labor on ECAs, particularly those belonging to underrepresented groups. Neglecting these issues may lead to the loss of a wide range of talented scholars for reasons that are not related to the quality of their academic performance.
Schlagwörter:academia; Arbeit; care work; COVID-19; early career researcher; inequalities; intersectional; intersektional; labor; pandemie; precarity; Reproduktionsarbeit; Schweiz; Switzerland
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on publishing in astronomy in the initial two years
Autor/in:
Böhm, Vanessa; Liu, Jia
Quelle: Nature Astronomy, 7 (2023) 1, S 105–112
Inhalt: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns changed working conditions for many researchers worldwide. While there exists initial evidence that these conditions have had a measurable impact on the field of astronomy, a comprehensive quantitative analysis is still outstanding. We study the effects of the pandemic on the astronomy community worldwide, with a special focus on early-career and underrepresented female scientists, using public records of publications. We find that the overall output of the field, measured by the yearly paper count, has increased. This is mainly driven by boosted individual productivity in most countries. However, a decreasing number of incoming new researchers is seen in most countries we studied, indicating higher barriers for new researchers to enter the field or complete their first project during COVID. The overall improvement in productivity is not equally shared by women. A smaller fraction of papers are written by female astronomers and fewer women are among incoming new researchers as compared to pre-pandemic trends, in 14 out of 25 countries we studied. Even though female astronomers became more productive during COVID, the level of improvement is smaller than for men. Pre-COVID, female astronomers in countries such as the Netherlands, Australia and Switzerland were equally as or even more productive than their male colleagues. During COVID, on average, no single country’s female astronomers were able to be equally productive as their male colleagues.
Wie gut konnten Forschende während der Corona-Pandemie arbeiten? Eine Studie im Journal “Nature Astronomy” hat dies untersucht. Sie beschäftigt sich mit der Produktivität der Astronomie, könnte aber auch Rückschlüsse auf einige andere Disziplinen geben. Insgesamt haben die Lockdowns und Einschränkungen 2020 und 2021 der Produktivität in der Astronomie offenbar nicht geschadet: Nicht nur stieg die Zahl der weltweiten Veröffentlichungen um 13 Prozent und setzte damit den Aufwärtstrend der vorherigen Jahre fort, auch die individuelle Produktivität der Forschenden wuchs. Dies spricht dafür, dass die flexiblen Arbeitsbedingungen sowie durch wegfallende Wege gewonnene Zeit der eigenen Forschung zugute kam (FAZ, Nature Astronomy). Eine gute Nachricht? Nicht nur.
Denn nicht für alle Forschenden galt dies gleichermaßen: Es waren fast ausschließlich männliche Wissenschaftler, die produktiver wurden, während der Erfolg von weiblichen Wissenschaftlerinnen stagnierte. Sie konnten sogar weniger Zeit als vorher in ihre Forschung investieren. Der Gleichstellung dürften die Pandemiejahre also geschadet haben.
Schlagwörter:COVID-19; gender gap; publication gap
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
CEWS Kategorie:Vereinbarkeit Familie-Beruf, Wissenschaft als Beruf
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Gender-based Language Differences in Letters of Recommendation
Autor/in:
Fu, Sunyang; Calley, Darren Q.; Rasmussen, Veronica A.; Hamilton, Marissa D.; Lee, Christopher K.; Kalla, Austin; Liu, Hongfang
Quelle: AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science proceedings. AMIA Joint Summits on Translational Science, 2023 (2023) , S 196–205
Inhalt: Gender stereotyping is the practice of assigning or ascribing specific characteristics, differences, or identities to a person solely based on their gender. Biased conceptions of gender can create barriers to equality and need to be proactively identified and addressed. In biomedical education, letters of recommendation (LOR) are considered an important source for evaluating candidates' past performance. Because LOR is subjective and has no standard formatting requirements for the writer, potential language bias can be introduced. Natural language processing (NLP) offers a promising solution to detect language bias in LOR through automatic extraction of sensitive language and identification of letters with strong biases. In our study, we developed, evaluated, and deployed four NLP different methods (sublanguage analysis, dictionary-based approach, rule-based approach, and deep learning approach) for the extraction of psycholinguistics and thematic characteristics in LORs from three different physical therapy residency programs (Neurologic, Orthopaedic, and Sport) at Mayo Clinic. The evaluation statistics suggest that both MedTaggerIE model and Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers model achieved moderate-high performance across eight different thematic categories. Through the pilot demonstration study, we learned that male writers were more likely to use the words 'intelligence', 'exceptional', and 'pursue' and male applicants were more likely to have the words 'strength', 'interpersonal skills', 'conversations', and 'pursue' in their letters of recommendation. Thematic analysis suggested that male and female writers have significant differences in expressing doubt, motivation, and recommendation. Findings derived from the study needed to be carefully interpreted based on the context of the study setting, residency programs, and data. A follow-up demonstration study is needed to further evaluate and interpret the findings.
Schlagwörter:gender bias; medicine; Medizin; natural language processing; recommendation letter
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Gender bias in reference letters for residency and academic medicine: a systematic review
Quelle: Postgraduate medical journal, 99 (2023) 1170, S 272–278
Inhalt: Reference letters play an important role for both postgraduate residency applications and medical faculty hiring processes. This study seeks to characterise the ways in which gender bias may manifest in the language of reference letters in academic medicine. In particular, we conducted a systematic review in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. We searched Embase, MEDLINE and PsycINFO from database inception to July 2020 for original studies that assessed gendered language in medical reference letters for residency applications and medical faculty hiring. A total of 16 studies, involving 12 738 letters of recommendation written for 7074 applicants, were included. A total of 32% of applicants were women. There were significant differences in how women were described in reference letters. A total of 64% (7/11) studies found a significant difference in gendered adjectives between men and women. Among the 7 studies, a total of 86% (6/7) noted that women applicants were more likely to be described using communal adjectives, such as "delightful" or "compassionate", while men applicants were more likely to be described using agentic adjectives, such as "leader" or "exceptional". Several studies noted that reference letters for women applicants had more frequent use of doubt raisers and mentions of applicant personal life and/or physical appearance. Only one study assessed the outcome of gendered language on application success, noting a higher residency match rate for men applicants. Reference letters within medicine and medical education exhibit language discrepancies between men and women applicants, which may contribute to gender bias against women in medicine.
Online panel work through a gender lens: implications of digital peer review meetings
Autor/in:
Peterson, Helen; Husu, Liisa
Quelle: Sci. and Pub. Pol. (Science and Public Policy), 50 (2023) 3, S 371–381
Inhalt: Previous studies have highlighted how the academic peer review system has been marked by gender bias and nepotism. Panel meetings arranged by research funding organisations (RFOs), where reviewers must explain and account for their assessment and scoring of grant applications, can potentially mitigate and disrupt patterns of inequality. They can however also constitute arenas where biases are reproduced. This article explores, through a gender lens, the shift from face-to-face to digital peer review meetings in a Swedish RFO, focusing on the implications for an unbiased and fair grant allocation process. Drawing on twenty-two interviews with panellists and staff in the RFO, the analysis identifies both benefits and challenges of this shift, regarding use of resources, meeting dynamics, micropolitics, social glue, and possibilities for group reflections. RFOs deliberating digitalisation of their peer review processes need to consider these implications to develop policies promoting unbiased and fair grant allocation processes and procedures.
Schlagwörter:digitale meeting; Digitalisierung; gender bias; grant application; inequality; micro-political practices; Mikropolitik; Panel; Peer Review; research funding organisation
CEWS Kategorie:Wissenschaft als Beruf, Geschlechterverhältnis
Familie, Karriere oder beides? : Die spezifischen Vereinbarkeitsprobleme im Wissenschaftsbereich
Autor/in:
Lange, Janina; Ambrasat, Jens
Quelle: Übergänge in Wissenschaftskarrieren. Svea Korff (Hrsg.), Inga Truschkat (Hrsg.), Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH; Springer VS. 2022, S 95–123
Inequalities and the Paradigm of Excellence in Academia
Herausgeber/in:
Jenkins, Fiona; Hoenig, Barbara; Weber, Susanne M.; Wolfram, Andrea
Quelle: London: Routledge (Routledge research in gender and society, 99), 2022.
Inhalt: This volume examines the criteria of excellence producing inequalities of gender in the daily working environment and evaluation of academics.
Policy makers have increasingly placed emphasis on gender equality as part of a strategy for achieving research excellence, and efforts to reduce gender bias have become mainstream. This book suggests that this goal has remained elusive in practice due to continuing under-representation of women across many academic and scientific fields. Questioning the old structures of male-dominance still prevalent in national research policy, the book explores the effects of institutional values and practices on the careers of academics, particularly the academic identities of women and their career developments.
It focuses on case-studies drawn from Europe while also highlighting the rise of new forms of public management and a neo-liberal framing of the value of academic work, that have a much broader global reach. Using participatory research, the book analyses contemporary forms of ‘gendered excellence’ in an intersectional and international perspective. It will be of interest to junior/senior researchers, teachers and scholars in Sociology, Education, Gender Studies, History, Political Science and Science and Technology Studies.
Schlagwörter:academia; Care; excellence; Exzellenz; gender bias; inequality; Peer Review; woman in academia
CEWS Kategorie:Hochschulen, Wissenschaft als Beruf
Quelle: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden; Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH; Springer VS (Wissenschaft – Hochschule – Bildung), 2022. 160 S
Inhalt: Wissenschaftskarrieren sind durch notwendige Übergänge im Sinne von Statuswechseln gekennzeichnet, wie z. B. durch die Promotion oder die Berufung. Als ebenso relevant lassen sich die vielen Erfahrungen verstehen, die in den jeweiligen Phasen bedeutsam werden. Auslaufende Verträge, Peer Review und Evaluationen etc. stellen Ereignisse dar, die entscheidend für das Erleben und das Fortsetzen der Laufbahn sind. Diese kleinen ggf. kritischen Ereignisse können somit als eine Vielzahl kleiner Übergänge verstanden werden. Während die Übergangs- und Hochschulforschung oftmals die zentralen Übergänge thematisieren, werden hier Beiträge versammelt, die explizit die kleinen Übergänge diskutieren.
Evaluation des novellierten Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetzes
Autor/in:
Sommer, Jörn; Jongmanns, Georg; Book, Astrid; Rennert, Christian
Quelle: InterVal GmbH; HIS-Institut für Hochschulentwicklung e. V. (HIS-HE); Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF); Berlin; Hannover, 2022.