An invited seminar for the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) SIGMET held by Marek Kwiek: „Women in Science: What Can We Quantify Using Structured Big Data?” (May 2024: 

“Women in Science: What Can We Quantify Using Structured Big Data?”

Link to the YouTube recording is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf-LyLEY4NA&t=439s

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Abstract

In this presentation, the possibilities of quantifying women in science through a study of digital traces left in globally indexed publications are explored. Male and female scientists from 38 OECD countries from the past three decades are contrasted using structured Big Data. We show current and future gender parity in science (N=4.2 million). We also show how attrition in science, or leaving science for good, differs across genders. The details of careers of male and female scientists who started publishing in different points in time (N=2.1 million) are examined. Finally, limitations of bibliometric datasets in studying gender differences in academic careers are explored and various trade-offs are shown.

Bio

Professor Marek Kwiek is UNESCO Chair in Institutional Research and Higher Education Policy, University of Poznan, Poland (https://ias.amu.edu.pl/director/). His research area is quantitative studies of science (globalization, academic profession, women in science and research collaboration). His recent monograph is Changing European Academics: A Comparative Study of Social Stratification, Work Patterns and Research Productivity (Routledge, 2019). He published in Studies in Higher Education, Higher Education, Journal of Studies in International Education, Scientometrics, Journal of Informetrics, and Journal of Economic Surveys. His recent invited seminars include Berkeley, Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Beijing and Hong Kong, among others. An expert for the European Commission, USAID, OECD, World Bank, and UNESCO. He spent three years at North American universities, including the University of Virginia, UC Berkeley, NED in Washington, DC, and McGill University. A Fellow of Academia Europaea in London. Contact: marek.kwiek@amu.edu.pl, Twitter: @Marek_Kwiek