Working Paper: NBER ID: w30107
Authors: Laura Cruzcastro; Donna K. Ginther; Luis Sanzmenendez
Abstract: This chapter reviews the data and literature on gender, race and ethnicity differences in research funding in the United States and Europe. The gender gap in research funding has closed at the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in the United States and substantially narrowed in Europe. Underrepresented minorities are less likely to receive research funding that whites in the United States. We found that much of the literature was a series of informative independent studies where many of the potential explanations depended upon the context. Our examination of peer review also found contradictory evidence of its efficacy. The variety of countries, funders, and approaches to peer review make it difficult to make definitive conclusions in the face of contradictory evidence on the gender funding gap. We conclude that access to high-quality administrative data would allow for improved methodological approaches to understanding these differences in research funding.
Keywords: gender; underrepresented minorities; research funding; disparities
JEL Codes: O30; O31; O34; O38
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| women and URM researchers (I24) | lower likelihood of applying for grants (I23) |
| structural factors (L10) | lower likelihood of applying for grants (I23) |
| implicit or explicit biases (D91) | lower funding success rates (I22) |
| prior performance, institutional resources, and biases in peer review (A14) | existing disparities in funding (I24) |
| gender gap in funding (I24) | disparities for URM researchers (I24) |