Gender and careers in science - do institutions matter?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Economics
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Sara Connolly (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Connolly S
Promotion in science - how long must you wait?
in N/A
Connolly S
(2010)
Handbook of Research on High-technology Entrepreneurs
Connolly S
(2009)
Analysing the Leaky Pipeline in Academia
Connolly S
(2009)
The Pay Gap for Women in Medicine and Academic Medicine
Sara Connolly (author)
Women in science ? fulfillment or frustration? : evidence from the UK
| Description | Despite much of the progress towards gender equality, significant gaps in pay and promotion remain both across and within the professions. Our data revealed gender pay differentials of £7,367 per annum amongst scientists working in Universities and £6,245 amongst scientists working in Research Institutes. This project aimed to add to the literature on gender and professional job markets by providing a detailed empirical investigation into the range of factors which have an impact upon the success in terms of pay and promotion of scientists in the UK. It considered the role of important institutional differences such as type of employer and the extent to which outcomes differ according to subject area. The main focus is whether there are gender differences in the career paths of scientists working in Universities and Research Institutes. Main aims: This research project had five main aims: • examine the extent to which age, seniority and productivity explain the gender pay gap amongst UK scientists; • model the promotion process - both the probability of promotion and the length of time taken to be promoted; • investigate the role that outside offers play in determining pay and promotion for scientists; • undertake a qualitative analysis of the type of support and encouragement received and to assess whether the gender balance of appointment or promotion committees influences outcomes; • draw conclusions on the impact of institutions. Key findings: • The research showed that most of the gender pay gap could be explained by age, seniority, productivity, subject area, institution type, workplace and domestic responsibilities. However, a significant proportion remains unexplained (19% in universities and 30% in research institutes.) • Within pay grades, male post-doctorates in universities earn 5.2% more and male professors earn 7.5% more than their female peers do. In research institutes, male post-docs earn 6.1% more and principal scientists earn 6.8% more. • Women account for 36% of the total workforce in universities and 40% in research institutes, but are heavily concentrated in the lowest grades: over 50% of post-docs are women, but less that 20% of professors and research directors are female. • In universities, women are less likely to be promoted to the top positions, while in research institutes they are less likely to be promoted out of the lowest ranks - the former has a "glass ceiling", the latter a "sticky floor". • Women say they believe career support and mentoring to be particularly important, but are less likely to receive such support than their male peers. Poor management was a major reason that women wanted to leave their current employer. They gave cronyism, the old boy's network and internal politics as examples of barriers to career progression. • The proportion of all-male interview panels is falling, but between 2001 and 2003/4, almost half of the jobs in research institutes and a third of those in universities were appointed by all male interview panels. This is evidence of widespread non-compliance with standard equal opportunities practice. • The research found evidence that female scientists in the UK face glass ceilings both in terms of pay and promotion. Women earn less because they are less likely to be promoted and they are likely to earn less when they are employed within the same grades. Women hit this ceiling at different points, depending on the kind of institution that they work for. In universities, the ceiling is thickest at the point of promotion from senior lecturer to professor. In research institutes, women face disadvantage at a lower level: when moving from post-doc to senior scientist. In both kinds of organisation, such promotions are hard to secure for men too, but for women the move is far more difficult. |
| Title | ASSET 2004 HEI |
| Description | Data collected as part of the Athena Survey of Science and Technology for Higher Education was deposited with the Data archive at the end of the award. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | None that I am aware of |
| Title | ASSET 2004 RI |
| Description | Data collected as part of the Athena Survey of Science and Technology for Research Institutes was deposited with the Data archive at the end of the award. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | None that I am aware of |
| Description | 5th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education, Berlin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion None that I am aware of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | BA Festival of Science at UEA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Special panel Women in Science - Frustration or fulfilment?, Chaired by Jenni Murray, 5th September 2006. I gave a presentation, this was followed by a Q&A session with the audience and a Question Time style discussion/debate with prominent scientists. After this talk I met members of the diversity committees of a number of professional societies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006 |
| Description | Catalyst, New York |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented results for the UK. Informed the content of their own studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Diversity Committee, Institute of Physics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I presented my general results for all scientists plus some disaggregations for Physics and Chemistry. This stimulated discussions and informed the analysis of the IoP own data. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Invited lecture, St Hilda's College, University of Oxford, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussions afterwards Science students who attended the talk were very interested in the results |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Invited seminar, Education Department, University of Oxford, |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion afterwards None that I am aware of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Invited seminar, ISER, University of Essex |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion afterwards None that I am aware of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Lower conference on Gender, Volos |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Question and discussion A member of the UK Equality Challenge Unit attended my presentation and she was very interested in the findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Meeting of the Women in Science and Technology (WiST2) Working Group, European Commission, Brussels |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion. Several companies and universities agreed to participate in a further studies which formed the basis of the WiST report. WiST working group produced a report Women in science and technology. Creating sustainable careers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Royal Economics Society, University of Warwick |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion None that I am aware of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2008 |
| Description | Royal Society Athena Conference, UK Research Assets: Use them or lose them |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion A member of the DG research at the European Commission attended this session and she invited me to participate in an EU working group on women in science, |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2006 |
| Description | Royal Society Athena Workshop for Social Scientists |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion None that I am aware of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Society of Labor Economists Conference, Chicago |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion A member of the not for profit group Catalyst attended this talk and invited me to give a presentation to their staff and researchers in New York |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |
| Description | Workshop on Role Model Platforms, University of Newcastle |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Questions and discussion None that I am aware of |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007 |