Abstract
Spanish researchers’ recent evaluations regarding the transfer of knowledge have shown that activities that could help close the gender gap in STEM areas are penalized upon evaluation. The results were very disappointing and, upon inspection, could lead readers to reach certain conclusions: first, Spanish researchers transfer research to society in a mediocre way; second, female researchers are even less capable of transferring knowledge in a profitable, beneficial way; and third, activities without a high economic impact for either society or research institutions are not promoted and do not boost the prestige of researchers in this research area. With the help of an ad hoc questionnaire responded to by 513 researchers (both male and female), we examined the causes of the low scores received by female researchers and whether transfer of knowledge activities focused on promoting STEM among female students end up penalizing the female researchers dedicated to those activities. This issue is compounded by the problem of the low visibility of female role models for young female students. The conscientious analysis of the results of the questionnaire may help to improve the fairness of future application rounds, avoiding subsequent disastrous results and encouraging researchers and administrators to work toward fostering an equal society, even if no economic value is directly derived from female-led research.
Highlights
Gender discrimination in academia has been the subject of a wide variety of articles in many different contexts, countries and circumstances ([1,2,3,4] and references therein).to the best of the authors’ knowledge, little attention has been paid to transfer of knowledge (TOK) and the possible—nearly certain—existence of a gender gap there as well
The survey was created using Google Forms, and the link was made available to all AMIT members through a call on the AMIT website; we made clear that any other researchers interested in participating would be welcome regardless of whether they applied for the six-year period TOK award
Did not meet the conditions of the call; The criteria were too imprecise; the rules were not entirely clear; It required additional effort on top of our already cumbersome workload with no guarantee of a fair evaluation, due to unclear criteria; It seemed to me that my merits were not of the caliber requested; I have participated in TOK actions but I have not been the lead researcher or project lead; I preferred to focus my efforts on the six-year period research award because the requirements are more clearly defined; Other
Summary
Gender discrimination in academia has been the subject of a wide variety of articles in many different contexts, countries and circumstances ([1,2,3,4] and references therein).to the best of the authors’ knowledge, little attention has been paid to transfer of knowledge (TOK) and the possible—nearly certain—existence of a gender gap there as well. Best et al [8] made a first attempt at quantifying the gender dimension in knowledge and technology transfer in Germany, where the capacity for innovation is estimated to be very high compared to the rest of the world. These authors reached the conclusion that the quantitative and qualitative components of the gender dimension are barely integrated among TOK stakeholders and decision makers across all levels.
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