The Effect of Gender in the Publication Patterns in Mathematics

TL;DR

This study investigates gender-based differences in publication patterns among mathematicians over four decades, revealing significant disparities that may hinder women's academic career advancement.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of gender differences in publication behaviors in mathematics using extensive database data, highlighting potential career disadvantages for women.

Findings

Women have lower publication counts than men.

Women tend to collaborate less through coauthorships.

Differences in research topics and journal quality are observed.

Abstract

Despite the increasing number of women graduating in mathematics, a systemic gender imbalance persists and is signified by a pronounced gender gap in the distribution of active researchers and professors. Especially at the level of university faculty, women mathematicians continue being drastically underrepresented, decades after the first affirmative action measures have been put into place. A solid publication record is of paramount importance for securing permanent positions. Thus, the question arises whether the publication patterns of men and women mathematicians differ in a significant way. Making use of the zbMATH database, one of the most comprehensive metadata sources on mathematical publications, we analyze the scholarly output of ~150,000 mathematicians from the past four decades whose gender we algorithmically inferred. We focus on development over time, collaboration through coautorships, presumed journal quality and distribution of research topics -- factors known to have a strong impact on job perspectives. We report significant differences between genders which may put women at a disadvantage when pursuing an academic career in mathematics.