Study Finds Women Academic Psychologists Are Less Likely to Win Prestigious, Senior-Level Awards

A recent study published in Nature has found gender disparities in the share of academic psychology awards presented to men and women scholars over the past 50 years. In reviewing data from 17 international psychology societies between 1968 and 2021, the study found men were overall more likely than women to receive an award. Although that gap has significantly closed in recent years, gender disparities remain among prestigious and senior-level awards.

Since 1968, the 17 examined professional associations presented a total of 2,700 awards to psychology scholars. Compared to their share of scholars in the field, women received less awards than expected and men received more than expected. Men were also more likely to receive research-related awards. Research awards are widely considered to be more prestigious than teaching or service-related awards, which were more likely to be presented to women. Furthermore, the authors found significant differences among different award levels, with men more likely receive senior-career level awards and women more likely to receive early-career awards. Women were also more likely to receive awards shared with another scholar rather than an individual award.

The authors highlight their findings provide important implications for women’s status in the field of academic psychology, stating that “gender/sex disparities in the presentation of awards can have important downstream effects on other aspects of academic success, including whose ideas are allowed to become influential both within the field and outside of it. Identifying the existence of disparities is the first step towards potentially rectifying it in the future.”