Productivity and Collaborative Patterns of Physical Educators

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which gender ratio and patterns of collegiality intersect among physical educators in higher education. An indirect measure of patterns of collegiality was obtained from an examination of the gender of authors and of author teams. Specifically, the investigator focused on publication rates, gender of primary authors of mixed teams and dyads, and size and gender composition of author teams. The data base consisted of articles published by physical educators in 14 research-based physical education journals 1980-1984. In addition, a measure of change was obtained through a comparison of selected data of 1980 and 1984. The results showed that although on the average, women and men had published the same number of articles, type and degree of collaboration differed significantly. Women tended to publish alone while men tended to publish in groups. The data also indicated that men were accorded senior authorship of mixed sex teams significantly more often than were women. In addition, the longitudinal data indicated a decrease in the number of women who were senior authors. The results were explained in terms of the numerical and institutional domination of men physical educators in higher education.