A Double Bind: Gendered Funding, Research Topics, and Academic Performance in the Social Sciences

Abstract

While female representation in social sciences is increasing, systemic gender disparities may persist in research funding and academic performance. Some argue that female scholars now receive equal opportunities, yet evidence suggests that gender imbalances remain, particularly in specific research areas. This study examines 12,945 National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded principal investigators in social sciences from 2000 to 2019 to assess gender disparities in grant allocation, research topics, and post-award academic performance. Findings reveal a dual imbalance. First, despite similar overall funding success rates, female scholars remain underrepresented in high-impact and traditionally male-dominated research topics. Male recipients are more represented in most funded topics, especially technology- and methodology-related ones, whereas female recipients are more concentrated in a smaller set of topics related to children, family, cognition, and health. Second, post-award performance patterns suggest that females outperform males in male-dominated fields, whereas males excel in female-dominated ones, undermining any presumed advantage of female scholars in their own research areas. These patterns may be associated with gendered constraints in academic career trajectories. Furthermore, early-career experiences shape these outcomes asymmetrically. In male-dominated topics, postdoctoral experience is associated with lower publication and citation performance for women but higher publication and citation performance for men. In female-dominated topics, postdoctoral experience is positively associated with women's publications and citations and with men's publication output. These findings suggest that policy discussions should consider not just overall funding equality, but also gendered disparities across research topics and career trajectories.