Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions

Anaïs Llorens; Athina Tzovara; Ludovic Bellier; Ilina Bhaya-Grossman; Aurélie Bidet-Caulet; William K. Chang; Zachariah R. Cross; Rosa Dominguez-Faus; Adeen Flinker; Yvonne Fonken; Mark A. Gorenstein; Chris Holdgraf; Colin W. Hoy; Maria V. Ivanova; Richard T. Jimenez; Soyeon Jun; Julia W.Y. Kam; Celeste Kidd; Enitan Marcelle; Deborah Marciano; Stephanie Martin; Nicholas E. Myers; Karita Ojala; Anat Perry; Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas; Stephanie K. Riès; Ignacio Saez; Ivan Skelin; Katarina Slama; Brooke Staveland; Danielle S. Bassett; Elizabeth A. Buffalo; Adrienne L. Fairhall; Nancy J. Kopell; Laura J. Kray; Jack J. Lin; Anna C. Nobre; Dylan Riley; Anne Kristin Solbakk; Joni D. Wallis; Xiao Jing Wang; Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg; Sabine Kastner; Robert T. Knight; Nina F. Dronkers

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions

Anaïs Llorens, Athina Tzovara, Ludovic Bellier, Ilina Bhaya-Grossman, Aurélie Bidet-Caulet, William K. Chang, Zachariah R. Cross, Rosa Dominguez-Faus, Adeen Flinker, Yvonne Fonken, Mark A. Gorenstein, Chris Holdgraf, Colin W. Hoy, Maria V. Ivanova, Richard T. Jimenez, Soyeon Jun, Julia W.Y. Kam, Celeste Kidd, Enitan Marcelle, Deborah MarcianoStephanie Martin, Nicholas E. Myers, Karita Ojala, Anat Perry, Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas, Stephanie K. Riès, Ignacio Saez, Ivan Skelin, Katarina Slama, Brooke Staveland, Danielle S. Bassett, Elizabeth A. Buffalo, Adrienne L. Fairhall, Nancy J. Kopell, Laura J. Kray, Jack J. Lin, Anna C. Nobre, Dylan Riley, Anne Kristin Solbakk, Joni D. Wallis, Xiao Jing Wang, Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg, Sabine Kastner, Robert T. Knight, Nina F. Dronkers

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

Despite increased awareness of the lack of gender equity in academia and a growing number of initiatives to address issues of diversity, change is slow, and inequalities remain. A major source of inequity is gender bias, which has a substantial negative impact on the careers, work-life balance, and mental health of underrepresented groups in science. Here, we argue that gender bias is not a single problem but manifests as a collection of distinct issues that impact researchers’ lives. We disentangle these facets and propose concrete solutions that can be adopted by individuals, academic institutions, and society.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2047-2074
Number of pages	28
Journal	Neuron
Volume	109
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002
State	Published - 7 Jul 2021
Externally published	Yes

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10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

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Llorens, A., Tzovara, A., Bellier, L., Bhaya-Grossman, I., Bidet-Caulet, A., Chang, W. K., Cross, Z. R., Dominguez-Faus, R., Flinker, A., Fonken, Y., Gorenstein, M. A., Holdgraf, C., Hoy, C. W., Ivanova, M. V., Jimenez, R. T., Jun, S., Kam, J. W. Y., Kidd, C., Marcelle, E., ... Dronkers, N. F. (2021). Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions. Neuron, 109(13), 2047-2074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

@article{2e9126b571804f2391b6cca2346698fd,

title = "Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions",

abstract = "Despite increased awareness of the lack of gender equity in academia and a growing number of initiatives to address issues of diversity, change is slow, and inequalities remain. A major source of inequity is gender bias, which has a substantial negative impact on the careers, work-life balance, and mental health of underrepresented groups in science. Here, we argue that gender bias is not a single problem but manifests as a collection of distinct issues that impact researchers{\textquoteright} lives. We disentangle these facets and propose concrete solutions that can be adopted by individuals, academic institutions, and society.",

author = "Ana{\"i}s Llorens and Athina Tzovara and Ludovic Bellier and Ilina Bhaya-Grossman and Aur{\'e}lie Bidet-Caulet and Chang, {William K.} and Cross, {Zachariah R.} and Rosa Dominguez-Faus and Adeen Flinker and Yvonne Fonken and Gorenstein, {Mark A.} and Chris Holdgraf and Hoy, {Colin W.} and Ivanova, {Maria V.} and Jimenez, {Richard T.} and Soyeon Jun and Kam, {Julia W.Y.} and Celeste Kidd and Enitan Marcelle and Deborah Marciano and Stephanie Martin and Myers, {Nicholas E.} and Karita Ojala and Anat Perry and Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas and Ri{\`e}s, {Stephanie K.} and Ignacio Saez and Ivan Skelin and Katarina Slama and Brooke Staveland and Bassett, {Danielle S.} and Buffalo, {Elizabeth A.} and Fairhall, {Adrienne L.} and Kopell, {Nancy J.} and Kray, {Laura J.} and Lin, {Jack J.} and Nobre, {Anna C.} and Dylan Riley and Solbakk, {Anne Kristin} and Wallis, {Joni D.} and Wang, {Xiao Jing} and Shlomit Yuval-Greenberg and Sabine Kastner and Knight, {Robert T.} and Dronkers, {Nina F.}",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Susan Fiske, Vinitha Rangarajan, Kristina R. Olson, and Sapna Cheryan for their help in editing and improving the manuscript and Luisa Reis Castro for valuable discussions. A.T. is supported by the Interfaculty Research Cooperation “Decoding Sleep: From Neurons to Health and Mind” of the University of Bern and the Swiss National Science Foundation (# 320030_188737 and P300PA_174451 ). E.A.B. is supported by NIH grant OD-010425 ; A.L.F. by the Simons Collaboration for the Global Brain ; and S.K. by the NIH ( RO1MH64043 , RO1EY017699 , and 21560-685 Silvio O. Conte Center), the James S. McDonnell Foundation , and the Overdeck Family Foundation . C.K. is supported by the Jacobs Foundation ; N.J.K. by the NIH/NIGMS ( P01-GM118629 ) and NIH/NIMH ( P50-MH109429 ); and J.J.L. by Brain Initiative U19NS107609-01 . A.C.N is funded by a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (ACN 104571/Z/14/Z ), a James S. McDonnell Foundation Understanding Human Cognition Collaborative Award ( 220020448 ), and the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre . The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust ( 203139/Z/16/Z ). S.K.R. is supported by the NIH/NIDCD ( 1R21DC016985 ). A.K.S. is supported by a research grant from the Research Council of Norway (RCN; project number 240389 ) and through the RCN Centres of Excellence scheme (project number 262762 RITMO ). J.D.W. is supported by the NIMH ( R01-MH121448 and R01-MH117763 ); W.-J.W. by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR; grant N00014-17-1-2041 ), the NIH (grant 062349 ), and the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain program (grant 543057SPI ). M.V.I. and N.F.D. are supported by the NIH/NIDCD ( R01-DC016345 ). D.S.B. is supported by the NSF ( CAREER PHY-1554488 ). R.T.K. is supported by the NINDS ( NS21135 ), NIMH (CONTE Center PO-MH109429 ), and Brain Initiative ( U19 NS107609 and U01 NS108916 ). Funding Information: Funding is crucial to a researcher{\textquoteright}s scientific progression and career advancement, including gaining tenure and broad professional recognition ( Charlesworth and Banaji, 2019 ; Duch et al., 2012 ). While the funding landscape is slowly evolving toward gender parity, women still face substantial challenges as they compete for limited resources. Some funding agencies collect data on the distribution of funding across genders. For instance, the percentage of NIH research grants awarded to women has been steadily growing over the past two decades, increasing from 23% in 1998 to 34% in 2019 ( NIH Data Book—Data by Gender, 2020 ), with similar patterns observed for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Department of Agriculture, and the European Research Council (ERC) ( Charlesworth and Banaji, 2019 ; ERC consolidator grants 2019 - statistics, 2019 ). However, despite this positive trend, progress still needs to be made, as women scientists typically hold fewer grants and receive smaller awards compared to men scientists ( NIH Data Book—Data by Gender, 2020 ). Funding Information: Institutions need to adopt official extensions of graduate, postdoctoral, and tenure timelines due to childbirth and parenthood. To address the financial difficulties for academic families, we suggest a number of measures. First, job security can be improved by creating longer-term contracts where possible and providing bridge funds at the department or university level to support trainees during gaps in funding ( Stewart and Valian, 2018 ). Both universities and funding institutions should put measures in place to prevent a gap in funding during parental leave ( Powell 2019 ). Special provisions for parenthood can be made in calls for proposals and funding mechanisms. A few funding organizations include childbirth in their policies as a valid reason to extend the eligibility window (from 1 year for NIH K awards to 18 months for ERC grants or a 2-year extension to post-PhD limits per child for the Emmy Noether Program of the German Research Foundation) or subtract time for parental leave (“ Research Project for Young Talent ” proposed by the Research Council of Norway, 2–7 years post-PhD). Finally, efforts should be made to reduce the difficulty in returning to work after maternity leave, such as providing lactation rooms. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002",

language = "English",

volume = "109",

pages = "2047--2074",

journal = "Neuron",

issn = "0896-6273",

publisher = "Cell Press",

number = "13",

}

Llorens, A, Tzovara, A, Bellier, L, Bhaya-Grossman, I, Bidet-Caulet, A, Chang, WK, Cross, ZR, Dominguez-Faus, R, Flinker, A, Fonken, Y, Gorenstein, MA, Holdgraf, C, Hoy, CW, Ivanova, MV, Jimenez, RT, Jun, S, Kam, JWY, Kidd, C, Marcelle, E, Marciano, D, Martin, S, Myers, NE, Ojala, K, Perry, A, Pinheiro-Chagas, P, Riès, SK, Saez, I, Skelin, I, Slama, K, Staveland, B, Bassett, DS, Buffalo, EA, Fairhall, AL, Kopell, NJ, Kray, LJ, Lin, JJ, Nobre, AC, Riley, D, Solbakk, AK, Wallis, JD, Wang, XJ, Yuval-Greenberg, S, Kastner, S, Knight, RT & Dronkers, NF 2021, 'Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions', Neuron, vol. 109, no. 13, pp. 2047-2074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

TY - JOUR

T1 - Gender bias in academia

T2 - A lifetime problem that needs solutions

AU - Llorens, Anaïs

AU - Tzovara, Athina

AU - Bellier, Ludovic

AU - Bhaya-Grossman, Ilina

AU - Bidet-Caulet, Aurélie

AU - Chang, William K.

AU - Cross, Zachariah R.

AU - Dominguez-Faus, Rosa

AU - Flinker, Adeen

AU - Fonken, Yvonne

AU - Gorenstein, Mark A.

AU - Holdgraf, Chris

AU - Hoy, Colin W.

AU - Ivanova, Maria V.

AU - Jimenez, Richard T.

AU - Jun, Soyeon

AU - Kam, Julia W.Y.

AU - Kidd, Celeste

AU - Marcelle, Enitan

AU - Marciano, Deborah

AU - Martin, Stephanie

AU - Myers, Nicholas E.

AU - Ojala, Karita

AU - Perry, Anat

AU - Pinheiro-Chagas, Pedro

AU - Riès, Stephanie K.

AU - Saez, Ignacio

AU - Skelin, Ivan

AU - Slama, Katarina

AU - Staveland, Brooke

AU - Bassett, Danielle S.

AU - Buffalo, Elizabeth A.

AU - Fairhall, Adrienne L.

AU - Kopell, Nancy J.

AU - Kray, Laura J.

AU - Lin, Jack J.

AU - Nobre, Anna C.

AU - Riley, Dylan

AU - Solbakk, Anne Kristin

AU - Wallis, Joni D.

AU - Wang, Xiao Jing

AU - Yuval-Greenberg, Shlomit

AU - Kastner, Sabine

AU - Knight, Robert T.

AU - Dronkers, Nina F.

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Susan Fiske, Vinitha Rangarajan, Kristina R. Olson, and Sapna Cheryan for their help in editing and improving the manuscript and Luisa Reis Castro for valuable discussions. A.T. is supported by the Interfaculty Research Cooperation “Decoding Sleep: From Neurons to Health and Mind” of the University of Bern and the Swiss National Science Foundation (# 320030_188737 and P300PA_174451 ). E.A.B. is supported by NIH grant OD-010425 ; A.L.F. by the Simons Collaboration for the Global Brain ; and S.K. by the NIH ( RO1MH64043 , RO1EY017699 , and 21560-685 Silvio O. Conte Center), the James S. McDonnell Foundation , and the Overdeck Family Foundation . C.K. is supported by the Jacobs Foundation ; N.J.K. by the NIH/NIGMS ( P01-GM118629 ) and NIH/NIMH ( P50-MH109429 ); and J.J.L. by Brain Initiative U19NS107609-01 . A.C.N is funded by a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award (ACN 104571/Z/14/Z ), a James S. McDonnell Foundation Understanding Human Cognition Collaborative Award ( 220020448 ), and the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre . The Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging is supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust ( 203139/Z/16/Z ). S.K.R. is supported by the NIH/NIDCD ( 1R21DC016985 ). A.K.S. is supported by a research grant from the Research Council of Norway (RCN; project number 240389 ) and through the RCN Centres of Excellence scheme (project number 262762 RITMO ). J.D.W. is supported by the NIMH ( R01-MH121448 and R01-MH117763 ); W.-J.W. by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR; grant N00014-17-1-2041 ), the NIH (grant 062349 ), and the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain program (grant 543057SPI ). M.V.I. and N.F.D. are supported by the NIH/NIDCD ( R01-DC016345 ). D.S.B. is supported by the NSF ( CAREER PHY-1554488 ). R.T.K. is supported by the NINDS ( NS21135 ), NIMH (CONTE Center PO-MH109429 ), and Brain Initiative ( U19 NS107609 and U01 NS108916 ). Funding Information: Funding is crucial to a researcher’s scientific progression and career advancement, including gaining tenure and broad professional recognition ( Charlesworth and Banaji, 2019 ; Duch et al., 2012 ). While the funding landscape is slowly evolving toward gender parity, women still face substantial challenges as they compete for limited resources. Some funding agencies collect data on the distribution of funding across genders. For instance, the percentage of NIH research grants awarded to women has been steadily growing over the past two decades, increasing from 23% in 1998 to 34% in 2019 ( NIH Data Book—Data by Gender, 2020 ), with similar patterns observed for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Department of Agriculture, and the European Research Council (ERC) ( Charlesworth and Banaji, 2019 ; ERC consolidator grants 2019 - statistics, 2019 ). However, despite this positive trend, progress still needs to be made, as women scientists typically hold fewer grants and receive smaller awards compared to men scientists ( NIH Data Book—Data by Gender, 2020 ). Funding Information: Institutions need to adopt official extensions of graduate, postdoctoral, and tenure timelines due to childbirth and parenthood. To address the financial difficulties for academic families, we suggest a number of measures. First, job security can be improved by creating longer-term contracts where possible and providing bridge funds at the department or university level to support trainees during gaps in funding ( Stewart and Valian, 2018 ). Both universities and funding institutions should put measures in place to prevent a gap in funding during parental leave ( Powell 2019 ). Special provisions for parenthood can be made in calls for proposals and funding mechanisms. A few funding organizations include childbirth in their policies as a valid reason to extend the eligibility window (from 1 year for NIH K awards to 18 months for ERC grants or a 2-year extension to post-PhD limits per child for the Emmy Noether Program of the German Research Foundation) or subtract time for parental leave (“ Research Project for Young Talent ” proposed by the Research Council of Norway, 2–7 years post-PhD). Finally, efforts should be made to reduce the difficulty in returning to work after maternity leave, such as providing lactation rooms. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2021/7/7

Y1 - 2021/7/7

N2 - Despite increased awareness of the lack of gender equity in academia and a growing number of initiatives to address issues of diversity, change is slow, and inequalities remain. A major source of inequity is gender bias, which has a substantial negative impact on the careers, work-life balance, and mental health of underrepresented groups in science. Here, we argue that gender bias is not a single problem but manifests as a collection of distinct issues that impact researchers’ lives. We disentangle these facets and propose concrete solutions that can be adopted by individuals, academic institutions, and society.

AB - Despite increased awareness of the lack of gender equity in academia and a growing number of initiatives to address issues of diversity, change is slow, and inequalities remain. A major source of inequity is gender bias, which has a substantial negative impact on the careers, work-life balance, and mental health of underrepresented groups in science. Here, we argue that gender bias is not a single problem but manifests as a collection of distinct issues that impact researchers’ lives. We disentangle these facets and propose concrete solutions that can be adopted by individuals, academic institutions, and society.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109200110&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

DO - 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

M3 - Review article

C2 - 34237278

AN - SCOPUS:85109200110

SN - 0896-6273

VL - 109

SP - 2047

EP - 2074

JO - Neuron

JF - Neuron

IS - 13

ER -

Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions

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