Are Differences in Research Performance Creating a Glass Ceiling for Women Faculty in Business Schools?

Abstract

Despite prevailing discourses around equal opportunity and inclusivity, gender disparity still exists in academic ranks and leadership positions. The authors reviewed 3290 faculty members within the thirty top-ranked business schools around the world, using the Scopus database to retrieve the h-index, number of publications, and citations for each faculty member. They examined the distribution of male and female faculty members across geographical regions, academic ranks, and subspecialties while comparing academic performance. The authors found evident disparities between male and female faculty across all domains, with women occupying a disproportionately lower number of academic ranks and leadership positions despite no significant differences in performance metrics. The greatest disparity was among the professor rank; less than one-fifth of all business professors were female.