Bimodal Bias against Chinese Scientists in the American Academy: Penalties for Men, Bonuses for Women

TL;DR

This study reveals a bimodal bias against Chinese scientists in the U.S. academic system, where male Chinese scientists face penalties while female Chinese scientists receive bonuses, affecting their citation metrics and career progression.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence of gender- and ethnicity-based biases in American academia, highlighting contrasting penalties and bonuses for Chinese scientists based on gender.

Findings

Male Chinese scientists face citation penalties.

Female Chinese scientists receive citation bonuses.

Gender and ethnicity biases influence career metrics.

Abstract

Given the recent targeting of Chinese scientists by the Department of Justice and sizable contributions of Chinese scientists to American science, it is urgent to investigate the presence and the particulars of anti-Chinese discrimination in the American academy. Across a sample of all faculty in the top 100 departments of sociology, economics, chemistry, and physics in the United States, we show that female Chinese scientists comprise a much higher percentage of the female professoriate than male Chinese scientists in the male professoriate. Using an exact matching approach, we then find that male Chinese scientists suffer from a dramatic citation penalty but that female Chinese scientists enjoy a persistent citation bonus. On average, female Chinese scientists require fewer citations on average than non-Chinese women where male Chinese scientists require more citations than their non-Chinese counterparts to attain a tenure-track professorial job of a given prestige rating.