Abstract
In this study, we examine how women’s representation in National Science Foundation Ocean Sciences (NSF-OCE) awards changed between 1987 and 2019 and how it varied across different programs, research topics, and award types. Women’s participation in NSF-OCE awards increased at a rate of approximately 0.6% per year from about 10% in 1987 to 30% in 2019, and the strong similarity between the temporal trends in the NSF-OCE awards and the academic workforce suggests that there was no gender bias in NSF funding throughout the 33-year study period. The programs, topics, and award types related to education showed the strongest growth, achieving and surpassing parity with men, while those related to the acquisition of shared instrumentation and equipment for research vessels had the lowest women’s representation and showed relatively little change over time. Despite being vastly outnumbered by men, women principal investigators (PIs) tended to do more collaborative work and had a more diversified “portfolio” of research and research-related activities than men. We also found no evidence of gender bias in the amount awarded to men and women PIs during the study period. These results show that, despite significant increases in women’s participation in oceanography over the past three decades, women have still not reached parity with men. Although there appears to be no gender bias in funding decisions or amount awarded, there are significant differences between women’s participation in specific research subject areas that may reflect overall systemic biases in oceanography and academia more broadly. These results highlight areas where further investment is needed to improve women’s representation.
Highlights
Despite significant progress in the last few decades, gender inequality in science and academia remains prevalent
We infer the gender of the principal investigators (PIs) and co-principal investigators in the awards from their first names using data from the United States Census Bureau and other sources (Supplementary Materials Part 1), and we look at how women’s representation varies in time and across research fields, award types, and major National Science Foundation Ocean Sciences (NSF-OCE) programs
Consistent with what we see in the NSF-OCE programs and research topics, the largest overall net increases in women’s participation between 1987–1997 and 2009–2019 are observed in CAREER and research opportunities for undergraduates (REU) awards, which have strong educational components
Summary
Despite significant progress in the last few decades, gender inequality in science and academia remains prevalent. The difference between the temporal trends (slopes) in the percentages of women PIs and co-PIs is not statistically significant, and women’s participation in NSF-OCE awards is growing at an overall rate of approximately 0.6% per year (Table 1).
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