Abstract
This paper examines the role of gender in the formation of research collaboration networks, by investigating the composition of networks through connections to diverse professional communities. Drawing on an ego network approach, we examine gender differences among researchers’ networks in terms of partner diversity, openness and brokerage roles. We use data from 897 valid responses to a questionnaire administered to biomedical scientists in Spain, which enquired into multiple aspects of personal research networks. Our findings show that women form more diverse networks and brokerage triads than men. This result is reinforced if we consider the most heterogeneous brokerage triads in terms of professional differences among network partners (i.e., consultant and liaison). Our results suggest that women are more likely to access non-redundant knowledge and richer research perspectives via their knowledge-flow intermediary roles. This research suggests the need for analyses of gender and networks that go beyond a gender-to-gender approach.
Highlights
This paper investigates the gender dimension in scientific research networks, by examining the type of networks formed by men and women and focusing on the professional diversity of network partners
Viewed through a conceptual lens, our findings suggest that future research should go beyond a gender-to-gender approach and, as we propose in this study, include an analysis of gender differences in intermediation roles involving heterogeneous actors in research networks
Based on the rationale for Hypotheses 1, 2 and 3, related to the potential advantages to women associated to the formation of diverse and open networks, we hypothesise that: Hypothesis 4: Women’s research networks are more likely to include brokerage roles that involve ties to highly dissimilar professional communities compared to men
Summary
This paper investigates the gender dimension in scientific research networks, by examining the type of networks formed by men and women and focusing on the professional diversity of network partners. A personal network configuration that includes brokerage roles is likely to be significant for knowledge generation, since the intermediary role of brokers has the potential to allow access to non-redundant knowledge and diverse research perspectives from heterogeneous professional communities.
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