Abstract
ObjectivesThe National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is the world's largest funding source for research, offers various types of competitive grants depending on the duration, research type, and budget. The Research Project Grant (RPG) is the oldest mechanism for grant allocation that is used by the NIH. In this study, we explored the gender trends of NIH RPGs and R01 grants over the last two decades.MethodsBy utilizing the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT), data for gender were extracted, and the percentage of women as RPGs Investigators, R01-equivalent grant including R01 type 1 and type 2 grant awardees, from 1998 to 2019 were tabulated. The absolute change was calculated.ResultsFrom 1998 to 2019, the percentage of female RPG awardees has increased. However, the success rates for female RPG applicants have decreased during the same period. The funding and success rates for new R01 awards have been similar for both men and women, but women have been less successful at the renewal of R01-equivalent awards.ConclusionGender disparity exists in awardees of higher RPGs, including the R01 award. This highlights the need for further actions to ensure gender parity in grant allocations at the NIH.
Highlights
Women have narrowed the gender gap with men among biomedical science degree holders, but they are lagging behind in academic ranks and leadership positions [1,2,3]
The success rates for female Research Project Grant (RPG) applicants have decreased during the same period
The funding and success rates for new R01 awards have been similar for both men and women, but women have been less successful at the renewal of R01-equivalent awards
Summary
Women have narrowed the gender gap with men among biomedical science degree holders, but they are lagging behind in academic ranks and leadership positions [1,2,3]. Similar discrepancies between PhD holders and faculty representation persist in academic medicine [2,6,7], professional medical societies [8,9,10], and editorial boards of medical journals [11,12]. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is the world’s leading source of public funding for biomedical research, receives disproportionally a lower number of newer grant applications from women [13]. Less than one-third of NIH research grantees are comprised of women, even though their success rates are similar for obtaining first grants compared to men [14]
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