Scientists Who Publish in Gender-Homogeneous Teams are Preferred in Promotions

Abstract

This research project investigated whether universities apply different performance standards to women's and men’s publications in order to appoint them professors. In Study 1, we analyzed the number of (non-)peer-reviewed publications and their scientific impact indices in a multidisciplinary sample of about 4800 professors. The results show that women have to publish more and in more renowned scientific journals in order to be appointed as professors. Study 2 confirmed these results in subsamples of professors who were matched with regard to their parental status before their first appointment and the rank of their professorships. In both studies, however, the gender main effect was moderated by the gender of coauthors: Both women and men who publish in more gender homogeneous coauthor networks have to publish less successfully in order to be appointed professors. Study 3 shows that this effect is explained by the stability of coauthor relationships and the specialization in research topics: Scientists publishing in more gender homogeneous teams have more stable relationships with their coauthors, leading to more publications with the same group of coauthors; they also publish on fewer research topics. Both prove to be advantageous in the promotion process. The research project shows that not only the gender of the applicants, but also the gender of their coauthors indirectly influences the decision of selection committees.