Access to information technology benefits female research scientists more than their male counterparts, increasing research productivity and collaboration, according to a new study co-authored by Assistant Professor Waverly Ding of the University of California, Berkeley鈥檚 Haas School of Business.
The study concludes that IT is an 鈥渆qualizing force鈥� for researchers and suggests innovations in IT may contribute to scientific productivity.
Women researchers at non-elite universities in particular increased their publication counts by 18 percent when their institutions provided IT as a communications tool, according to the study, published in Management Science (September 2010). 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying IT isn鈥檛 helping men; it鈥檚 positive for both," says Ding. 鈥淗owever, women gain more from IT advancement in universities than men do.鈥�
The co-authors of the study, titled 鈥淭he Impact of Information Technology on Academic Scientists鈥� Productivity and Collaboration Patterns,鈥� include Sharon Levin and Anne Winkler of the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Paula Stephan of Georgia State University.
Their study focused on more than 4,000 researchers in the life sciences from more than 150 universities during the past 25 years. Because the Internet was not common or widespread until the mid-1990s, researchers studied the availability of BITNET at a scientist鈥檚 institution. BITNET was the embryonic form of today鈥檚 Internet and used primarily at academic institutions to link scientists across universities. The goal was to foster communication and collaboration, but it did not consist of email or any search engines, and was gradually replaced by the Internet. The study measured productivity by changes in a scientist鈥檚 publication count 鈥� the number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals -- and the quality of the publications.
After a university installed the BITNET system, women's publications increased 19 percent while there was no statistically significant gain in access to BITNET for men. Furthermore, women gained 27 percent in obtaining new co-authors while men only gained 13 percent.
At lower-ranked universities, researchers have fewer colleagues and less diversity in terms of their research areas, making collaboration more difficult.
"IT gives researchers a tool so they may connect with colleagues at other institutions and collaborate to obtain cutting-edge knowledge,鈥� explains Ding.
She adds, 鈥淔urthermore, the research supports the need for more collaboration, being open, and increasing the extensiveness and diversity of one鈥檚 research network 鈥� that鈥檚 the lesson of this study.鈥�
Provided by University of California - Berkeley
