Gender diversity and project publication quality – an analysis of STEM in the UK

Abstract

Gender diversity in STEM remains a salient issue, as the field continues to be a male dominated one, despite increased attention on the subject. This paper examines the interplay between gender diversity on projects funded by a major UK research council, the EPSRC (Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council) and the publication success of a project, as measured by the average journal quality of project publication output, over a ten-year period. The proportion of female representation and leadership on these projects remains very low. This study does not find a significant relationship between gender diversity and journal quality output.