Suessmilch Lecture

Equity for Women in Science

Cassidy R. Sugimoto
Hybrid Presentation, March 07, 2023

As part of the Suessmilch Lecture series, Cassidy R. Sugimoto from Georgia Institute of Technology spoke about equity for women in science.

Abstract

If current trends continue, women and men will be equally represented in the field of biology in 2069. In physics, math, and engineering, women should not expect to reach parity for more than a century. The gender gap in science and technology is narrowing, but at a decidedly unimpressive pace. And even if parity is achievable, what about equity?

This talk will present a large-scale empirical analysis of the global gender gap in science, providing strong evidence that the structures of scientific production and reward impede women’s career advancement. The evidence is drawn from publication and survey data and shows that women are systematically denied the chief currencies of scientific credit: publications and citations. The rising tide of collaboration only exacerbates disparities, with women unlikely to land coveted leadership positions or gain access to global networks. The findings are unequivocal: when published, men are positioned as key contributors and women are relegated to low-visibility technical roles. The talk concludes with a discussion of how intersecting disparities in labor, reward, and resources contribute to cumulative disadvantages for the advancement of women in science and what might be done to mitigate this.

About the Speaker

Dr. Cassidy R. Sugimoto is Professor and Tom and Marie Patton School Chair in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research examines the formal and informal ways in which knowledge is produced, disseminated, consumed, and supported, with an emphasis on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sugimoto was a professor of Informatics in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington from 2010-2021 and served as the Program Director for the Science of Science and Innovation Policy program at the National Science Foundation from 2018-2020.

She has received the Indiana University Trustees Teaching award (2014), a national service award from the Association for Information Science and Technology (2009), and a Bicentennial Award for service from Indiana University (2020). She holds a bachelor’s in Music Performance, a master’s in Library Science, and a doctoral degree in Information and Library Science all from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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