A study of more than 5,400 instructors and assistant professors at Harvard Medical School compared differences between males and females for receipt of their first NIH research award. For junior faculty at academic research centers an essential step for promotion is to establish research independence. A key indicator of independence is attainment of an R01 award from the NIH as principal investigator.
The study, which also examined gender differences in numbers of publications, h-index, size of coauthor networks, and becoming an assistant professor, was published in Journal of Women's Health. Over the last three decades, women have reached parity with, or surpassed, men in undergraduate and medical school enrollment and graduation rates. However, despite these gains, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles in academic medicine, according to the research team.
The researchers found that compared to males, females had fewer publications, lower h-index, smaller coauthor networks, and were less likely to be assistant professors, however they found no significant gender difference in the likelihood of receiving an award.
The team is currently investigating how intraorganizational coauthor networks are formed and how and what resources are transmitted through them.