Female scholars more likely than male counterparts to be elected to prestigious US scientific societies, finds study
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00501-7
EXCERPT: . . . Lead author David Card, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, says that the boost does not seem to be due to an analogous increase in the number of potentially qualified female candidates for membership.
In a statement to Nature, NAS president Marcia McNutt says that the NAS does not reserve a set number of places in each year’s election for female scientists or other under-represented researchers. Instead, she says that reforms to the NAS-membership nomination process have encouraged inclusion of a more-diverse group of scientists.
David Oxtoby, president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, told Nature that female academy membership has risen from 44% to as much as 55% of all members in certain disciplines since 2018. He did not give a reason for the increase.
Julia Lane, an economist at New York University who studies female representation in science, points out that the study assumes that male and female academy members face the same hurdles in getting published and cited. However, Lane says, research — including her own — shows that women face greater barriers in scientific enterprise than do their male counterparts and are less likely to receive credit for their work. This finding suggests that the boost in female academy members could be a result of survivorship bias — women who make it to the top of their field and into the pool of academy candidates are probably more accomplished than male candidates... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2212421120
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00501-7
EXCERPT: . . . Lead author David Card, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley, says that the boost does not seem to be due to an analogous increase in the number of potentially qualified female candidates for membership.
In a statement to Nature, NAS president Marcia McNutt says that the NAS does not reserve a set number of places in each year’s election for female scientists or other under-represented researchers. Instead, she says that reforms to the NAS-membership nomination process have encouraged inclusion of a more-diverse group of scientists.
David Oxtoby, president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, told Nature that female academy membership has risen from 44% to as much as 55% of all members in certain disciplines since 2018. He did not give a reason for the increase.
Julia Lane, an economist at New York University who studies female representation in science, points out that the study assumes that male and female academy members face the same hurdles in getting published and cited. However, Lane says, research — including her own — shows that women face greater barriers in scientific enterprise than do their male counterparts and are less likely to receive credit for their work. This finding suggests that the boost in female academy members could be a result of survivorship bias — women who make it to the top of their field and into the pool of academy candidates are probably more accomplished than male candidates... (MORE - missing details)
PAPER: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2212421120