Women Make Up a Small Percentage of Authors on COVID-19 Research Papers

A new study, led by researchers at the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford in England, has found a gender gap in COVID-19 research productivity.

The authors found 1,445 published papers on COVID-19 research. These articles had a total of 6,722 authors. The analysis found that women made up only one third of all authors who have published research on COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. The percentage of women as senior and lead authors is even lower.

The authors state that “with lockdowns enforced across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many researchers are now working from home and face competing demands from parenting, homeschooling and other caring duties. These roles are predominantly assumed by women, especially in countries with high gender inequality. Women’s representation in research generally, and specifically in the study of COVID-19, may be disproportionately affected by lockdown measures.”

The full study, “Where Are the Women? Gender inequalities in COVID-19 Research Authorship,” was published on the website of the journal BMJ Global Health. It may be accessed here.