Read on Twitter
New paper out today: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691620952789
This was a herculean effort by 59 authors to understand the evidence re: the status of women in psych sci and how to move forward to address remaining gender gaps. 1/
This was a herculean effort by 59 authors to understand the evidence re: the status of women in psych sci and how to move forward to address remaining gender gaps. 1/
2/ Critical caveat 1: b/c of limitations re: data, we refer to women & men, fully acknowledging that gender is a continuum and gender identity can be nonbinary. Understanding how variation in gender identity impacts the findings below is a critical area of future research.
3/ Critical caveat 2: This paper doesn’t speak for all women or speak to all issues facing women in psychological science. We limited our scope largely to issues addressed empirically. There is much more work to be done.
4/ With those caveats (and others in the paper) stated,
our paper identifies 10 domains in which there may be gender inequity in psych sci and reviews why those gaps may exist.
Some highlights:
our paper identifies 10 domains in which there may be gender inequity in psych sci and reviews why those gaps may exist.
Some highlights:
5/ Issue 1: Career Advancement
The good: women are entering psych at high rates (uni & phd) & being hired into TT jobs at >= rates as men; gaps in promotion & tenure are closing.
But, sig gender gaps in publishing in terms of # & prestige (w<m), complicated impact of...
The good: women are entering psych at high rates (uni & phd) & being hired into TT jobs at >= rates as men; gaps in promotion & tenure are closing.
But, sig gender gaps in publishing in terms of # & prestige (w<m), complicated impact of...
6/ …gender on grant seeking and award (=, <, & > depending on type of grant, agency etc), equity in early career awards but not senior awards, and dif invitation to give talks etc.
7/ Issue 2: Financial Compensation
Pay gaps seem to exist but magnitude varies by career stage and institution. Productivity alone doesn’t appear to account for the pay gap.
Pay gaps seem to exist but magnitude varies by career stage and institution. Productivity alone doesn’t appear to account for the pay gap.
8/ Issue 4: Service Assignment and Practices
Mixed evidence wrt service - some studies find w>m, some studies find w=m. Context (who is chair, career stage) seems to have important impact on service loads.
Mixed evidence wrt service - some studies find w>m, some studies find w=m. Context (who is chair, career stage) seems to have important impact on service loads.
9/ Issue 5: Lifestyle Roles and Work–Family Conflict
The highlights: Women serve disproportionately as caregivers which may impact work; married women compared to married men are less likely to enter TT; yet unmarried women more likely to get TT…
The highlights: Women serve disproportionately as caregivers which may impact work; married women compared to married men are less likely to enter TT; yet unmarried women more likely to get TT…
10/ … job than unmarried men; limited if any evidence for discrimination against women with children.
11/ Issue 6: Gender Biases
Gender stereotypes do a disservice to women re: percep of brilliance, lack of belonging in science, emphasis on communality & organization.
Student evaluations are unrelated to teaching effectiveness & learning outcomes and biased against women.
Gender stereotypes do a disservice to women re: percep of brilliance, lack of belonging in science, emphasis on communality & organization.
Student evaluations are unrelated to teaching effectiveness & learning outcomes and biased against women.
12/ Issue 7: Holding Positions of Power
Data about w v m holding positions of power is varied. Variation in paths to power may be related to variation in dominance and prestige although women are now perceived as being >= men re: competence.
Data about w v m holding positions of power is varied. Variation in paths to power may be related to variation in dominance and prestige although women are now perceived as being >= men re: competence.
13/ Issue 8: Intersectionality
Challenges women face are compounded by other aspects of their identities including race, ethnicity, SES, sexual orientation, disability, etc. Existing data demonstrate that Black women face sig barriers that white women do not.
Challenges women face are compounded by other aspects of their identities including race, ethnicity, SES, sexual orientation, disability, etc. Existing data demonstrate that Black women face sig barriers that white women do not.
14/ Sidebar: Data on intersectionality are limited. These issues are critical to evaluate moving forward. Check out this great new paper for one awesome example of a data driven eval re: race in psych science https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1745691620927709
15/ Issue 9: Harassment and Incivility
Women report harassment at high frequencies and at greater rate than men across career stages which has the potential to influence many domains of scientific life and career advancement.
Women report harassment at high frequencies and at greater rate than men across career stages which has the potential to influence many domains of scientific life and career advancement.
16/ Issue 10: Agency, Self-Esteem, and Self-Promotion
Gender dif in training and career progression may be impacted by features related to social roles including agency, self-esteem, and self-promotion which shape how people behave and are perceived.
Gender dif in training and career progression may be impacted by features related to social roles including agency, self-esteem, and self-promotion which shape how people behave and are perceived.
17/ Issue 11: Lack of Belonging
Gender dif re: academic culture fit may impact professional life, but data=limited. What data exist show women believe they need to exert more effort in STEM fields and may have lower levels of perceived belonging in some professional contexts.
Gender dif re: academic culture fit may impact professional life, but data=limited. What data exist show women believe they need to exert more effort in STEM fields and may have lower levels of perceived belonging in some professional contexts.
18/ TL;DR
Psych is doing pretty well closing the gender gap & better than many other sci fields, although sig dif exist in productivity, eminence, and financial comp. Issues are exacerbated for BIWOC. Dif may be related to systemic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors.
Psych is doing pretty well closing the gender gap & better than many other sci fields, although sig dif exist in productivity, eminence, and financial comp. Issues are exacerbated for BIWOC. Dif may be related to systemic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors.
19/ So what do we do to close the gaps that do exist?
Raise awareness & collect data. Evidence was scant or outdated for many of the issues we sought to address. You have to know what the problem actually is before you can fix it.
Raise awareness & collect data. Evidence was scant or outdated for many of the issues we sought to address. You have to know what the problem actually is before you can fix it.
20/ Keep the progress psych has made forward by ensuring equitable decisions in hiring & promotion are made (e.g., interventions that alert hiring committees to potential bias).
21/ Appoint equity advocates to committees (like those that select speakers) to ensure equity and document processes.
22/ Increase transparency around financial disparities and support women building their negotiation skills.
Address work-family conflict via policy changes and fiscal support to create flexibility.
Address work-family conflict via policy changes and fiscal support to create flexibility.
23/ Equalize service across men and women by rotating participation of all department members, keeping good records, and implementing consequences for those who do not follow through on service, etc.
24/ Explicitly confront potential gender biases & harassment. Reduce or eliminate emphasis on citation metrics & teaching evals in tenure & promotion decisions. Focus on content and skill that is eval by peers. Take harassment complaints seriously. Train bystanders to intervene.
25/ Recognize that intersectionality is real and that issues for women are compounded by other features of their identities including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. Develop strat for promoting underrepresented women in psych sci (e.g., creating explicit networking op).
26/ Invest in mentorship of women in order to strengthen career advancement and also the experience of belonging across all stages of training and career. Representation matters!
27/ Authors and their labs (for those who w/twitter handles):
@rcart003
@lclark6
@aliacrum
@amyjccuddy
@angeladuckw
@missyjferguson
@BrettQFord
@AlisonGopnik
@HarknessMoodlab
@MikkiHebl
@hedykober
@annkring
@ka_lindquist
@TaniaLombrozo
@JoanMonin
@judymosk
@betsylevyp
@jennDSN
@rcart003
@lclark6
@aliacrum
@amyjccuddy
@angeladuckw
@missyjferguson
@BrettQFord
@AlisonGopnik
@HarknessMoodlab
@MikkiHebl
@hedykober
@annkring
@ka_lindquist
@TaniaLombrozo
@JoanMonin
@judymosk
@betsylevyp
@jennDSN
28/ Authors/labs continued:
@NicoleRPrause
@darbysaxbe
@PsychPam
@BobbiePoPS
@BethanyTeachman
@LMWeinstockPhD
@junegruber
@eblissmoreau
@laurenatlas
@LFeldmanBarrett
@CantlonLab
@LilaDavachi
@ProfAkinola
@ccplab_wustl
@CarterLab
@ADRC_UCLA
@uo_CTN
@LiberosLLC
@fam_usc
@NicoleRPrause
@darbysaxbe
@PsychPam
@BobbiePoPS
@BethanyTeachman
@LMWeinstockPhD
@junegruber
@eblissmoreau
@laurenatlas
@LFeldmanBarrett
@CantlonLab
@LilaDavachi
@ProfAkinola
@ccplab_wustl
@CarterLab
@ADRC_UCLA
@uo_CTN
@LiberosLLC
@fam_usc
Authors/labs continued:
@williamslisaphd
@ess_consortium
@CASL_UNC
@LourencoLab
@YaleSGHLab
@BlissMoreauLab
@affectivescilab
@williamslisaphd
@ess_consortium
@CASL_UNC
@LourencoLab
@YaleSGHLab
@BlissMoreauLab
@affectivescilab
Authors' unis/colleges:
@Columbia_Biz
@WUSTL
@UCIrvine
@UCLA
@UCIrvine
@ucdavis
@UCDavisPsych
@NotreDame
@stanford
@hbsExecEd
@WilliamJamesEdu
@YalePsychology
@UofT
@queensu
@RiceUniversity
@Harvard
@YalePsychology
@BerkeleyPsych
@UCBerkeley @UNC
@Princeton
@EmoryUniversity
@Columbia_Biz
@WUSTL
@UCIrvine
@UCLA
@UCIrvine
@ucdavis
@UCDavisPsych
@NotreDame
@stanford
@hbsExecEd
@WilliamJamesEdu
@YalePsychology
@UofT
@queensu
@RiceUniversity
@Harvard
@YalePsychology
@BerkeleyPsych
@UCBerkeley @UNC
@Princeton
@EmoryUniversity
Authors' unis/colleges/centers cont:
@cornell
@CornellCHE
@YaleSPH
@Princeton
@uoregon
@USCDornsife
@USC_Research
@USCC_GOV
@UBCPsych
@UCSanDiego
@UVAlaw
@BrownUniversity
@uva
@CUBoulder
@NIH
@cornell
@CornellCHE
@YaleSPH
@Princeton
@uoregon
@USCDornsife
@USC_Research
@USCC_GOV
@UBCPsych
@UCSanDiego
@UVAlaw
@BrownUniversity
@uva
@CUBoulder
@NIH
Authors' unis/colleges/centers cont:
@Northeastern
@CarnegieMellon
@UMich
@TAMU
@HarvardHBS
@YaleSOM
@NorthwesternU
@UCRiverside
@UCSF
@UNSW
@UofDenver
@Penn
@UofT
@WUSTL
@Northeastern
@CarnegieMellon
@UMich
@TAMU
@HarvardHBS
@YaleSOM
@NorthwesternU
@UCRiverside
@UCSF
@UNSW
@UofDenver
@Penn
@UofT
@WUSTL
The accepted version of the manuscript can be found here:
https://eliza-blissmoreau.squarespace.com/s/Women-in-Psychological-Science-accepted-version-sub-to-pubmed.pdf
https://eliza-blissmoreau.squarespace.com/s/Women-in-Psychological-Science-accepted-version-sub-to-pubmed.pdf
As expected, I missed a few handles in the authors and uni tagging - @LJampol, @PsychIllinois, I'm sorry!
