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New Study Highlights Gender Disparities in Award Laureates
Sarah Keitt, MPH
Society for Women's Health Research
April 24, 2009
Targeting inequities in award distribution is one way to sustain women in male-dominated fields such as medicine and science because awards are markers of recognition and may be an impetus for women on an uncertain career path. Yet, data from the RAISE project award database identified a clear gender disparity between award laureates.
The RAISE project, a program of the Society for Women’s Health Research, is designed to increase the status of professional women through enhanced Recognition of the Achievements of Women In Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine. Current programs of The RAISE Project include an interactive website with a listing of available awards categorized by discipline, career level and eligibility by gender. The website also analyzes distribution of awards and award recipients by gender and continuously updates data as additional awards and recipients are entered in the database.
To track and identify possible gender disparities in award recipients, Vanessa Schick, M.Phil., and co-investigators Stephanie Pincus, MD, MBA and Anne Lincoln, PhD investigated the inclusion of gendered heuristics in the award description and title. Contrary to predictions, gendered terminology in award descriptions did not predict an increase in the percentage of female award recipients. However, women were twice as likely to win an award if the award title was gender neutral (20%) and 2.5 times more likely to win an award named after a female (23%) than if the award title included the full name of a male (9%).
"By implication," said Ms. Schick, "consideration should be taken when deciding on current or future award titles."
Included in the study were 1172 total awards and 22,909 awardees. Results found that only 3,872, or 16.9% were women. One notable finding is that 31 % of the awards evaluated had no women recipients. Female award candidates in the field of medicine seem to fare the best with 20.5% of awardees being women.
According to Dr. Pincus, "The RAISE Project has been phenomenally successful in increasing the awareness of the importance of awards and prizes."
In addition to tracking awards available to women, the RAISE website provides tips for diversifying award recipients and users can participate in a survey designed to assess the personal and professional impact that awards/prizes have on women.
© April 24, 2009 Society for Women's Health Research
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