Corona Daily 122: Women Don’t Belong in Science

You can name any inequality, rich and poor, white and black, male and female – the coronavirus pandemic has made it worse. In the last seven days, I wrote about two great women scientists, one credited with mRNA technology, and another a top expert on the role of bats in propagation of coronaviruses. And today, to my surprise, I find tons of articles about how the pandemic has hit women scientists very hard. Women published fewer papers, led fewer clinical trials, and received less or no recognition for their expertise.

*****

These are not perceptions, but facts based on quantitative studies. In a medical journal medRxiv, the gender gap between authors grew from 23% in January 2020 to 55% in April 2020. Women academicians and scientists were evidently fulfilling the role of caring for children. Women in faculty with children up to 5 years completed fewer peer reviews, attended fewer funding panel meetings, and submitted fewer first authors’ articles compared to pre-pandemic. Male professors with children up to 5 years had hardly any effect on productivity.

Less than one third of covid-19 related clinical trials were led by women, half the proportion of non-covid trials in the same period. It reveals imbalances in women’s access to research activities and funding during health emergencies.

In the coronavirus coverage, female scientists and doctors are cited less, interviewed less, invited less to policy debates. Men continued to be given leadership roles and the job of speaking to the media.

A Gates foundation researcher analysed online corona coverage in the UK, USA, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and India. Women were four times less likely to feature as experts or commentators. During lockdowns in France, more than 83% front page photos were of males. Most opinion pieces were written by men as well. In Switzerland, out of the 30 scientists most frequently cited during corona coverage, 28 were men.

This data is particularly interesting, because 69% of health professionals around the globe are women. Since 2000, in the US and most developed countries women have earned more than 50% of the science and engineering degrees, and doctorates. Once women earn their PhDs, they receive 39% of available fellowships and 18% of professorships. In the USA, a typical Health research grant is $41,000 larger for a man. The gender gap is $68,800 at Yale, and $76,500 at Brown.

Women excel in studies, research, medical practice so that men can make more money, more presentations and give expert views on TV.

*****

In November 2020, a study was published by three scientists, two of them women. The paper concluded that having female mentors would hinder the career of young scientists. It recommended steering graduate students to male mentors. This was like saying no woman can become the president of the USA, because all successful presidents in the past have been males.

A petition signed by 7600 scientists, men and women, was submitted to express their anger and disgust. On 21 December, the paper was retracted, though it continues to be available online.

Rockfeller University has a wall exclusively made of white men affiliated to the university. They are winners of Nobel and other awards. Many such “dude walls” exist in American universities, ignoring women from the same universities who had won prestigious awards.

*****

In August 2020, Rita Coldwell, a senior scientist shared her experience in the Atlantic. During her six decades in science, she was told sometimes subtly, but often openly that women don’t belong in science. When she applied for a graduate fellowship to study bacteriology, the male professor said the department didn’t waste such positions on women.

Once the pandemic is over, female scientists will have to start their battle with the hypocrisy all over again.

Ravi