On the relationship between gender disparities in scholarly communication and country-level development indicators

Gender disparities in science remain, despite decades of policies aimed at achieving gender parity. Yet, little is known about the macro-level factors affecting such disparities. This paper examines the degree to which country-level human development indicators (HDI) and gender inequality indicators (GII) gathered by the United Nations Development Report can reveal systemic gender inequalities in scholarship. Countries ‘low’ in HDI and GII had the lowest contribution of female participation in science and highest degree of international collaboration. Research from highly developed countries was more cited, although gender disparities remained. For HDI, gross national income was a strong predictor of scientific output and impact (and, to a lesser degree, collaboration). The rate of women in the labor force was the strongest predictive variable in GII, explaining differences in output, collaboration, and impact. However, predictive variables differed by HDI/GII quartile, suggesting that monolithic policies may not be appropriate for addressing gender disparities in science.