The woman researcher's tale: A review of bibliometric methods and results for studying gender in science

Abstract

There has been a notable increase in bibliometric research studying gender in academia. This narrative review aims to organize and synthesize this extensive body of work to uncover new insights into gender disparities in science. We begin by analyzing key methodological elements, including gender assignment techniques, units of analysis, and causality issues. Next, we identify and categorize the main findings of the literature into three groups: differences in academia, causes behind these differences, and their primary consequences. Finally, we point out gaps in the literature and propose new lines of inquiry to address these gaps. These proposals include more rigorous gender assignment algorithms, fostering comparability of studies, exploring a broader range of topics, and improving the interpretability and context of results when studying gender.