Gender and Institutional Affiliation as Determinants of Publishing in Human Communication Research

Abstract

Women in academia generally publish fewer articles than do men; also, many women traditionally have not been attracted to quantitative methodologies. Therefore, this study investigated whether female authors have been underrepresented in Human Communication Research (HCR) as compared to their representation in the communication field and as compared to a more qualitative communication journal that publishes articles employing different methods. The results indicated that the difference between the percentage of female authors in HCR and the percentage of women in the field was not significant for 4 of 6 sample years. The difference between the percentages of female authors in HCR and Quarterly Journal of Speech was not significant for any of the 6 years; however, there was a significant difference in the number of female sole or lead (first) authors in 3 of the 6 sample years. Institutional affiliation was also examined because, in most fields, a small percentage of scholars produce a majority of research. The 10 highest ranking programs in Communication Theory and Research (as determined by a survey conducted by the National Communication Association) contributed more than one third of all HCR articles. Overall, the journal seems to have represented the work of a relatively diverse group of scholars during the past 25 years.