RUI: The Influence of Network Structure on Sex Disparities in Scientific Collaboration: Commercial Innovation in the Life Sciences

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This research examines the influence of network structure on sex disparities in scientific collaboration. It incorporates data on the collaboration networks of the national population of biotechnology inventors and those from a variety of organizational settings (including public research organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and government laboratories) across a thirty-year period (1976-2002). The results should provide direct causal linkages between network mechanisms and gendered outcomes in science.Intellectual MeritPrevious research on sex differences in social connectivity suggests that women and men assume qualitatively different patterns of interaction in their work settings. These network theories of influence on women's performance suggest that a key mechanism in the production of sex disparities manifests itself through the ties and connections that women make, or are able to make, in workplace settings. Little is known about the ways in which network mechanisms might be operating to produce differences in outcomes across scientific settings, however. It is not clear what types of networks support women's collaboration and whether those factors differ from those that support men's collaboration. And while it has been shown that sex disparities in scientific productivity appear to differ across organizational settings -- specifically, in more horizontally-organized work settings as compared with more hierarchical ones. The mechanism for these differences has not been clearly identified. Greater insight into the stratification processes of women and men in science can be gained by studying how organizational forms affect the way collaborative work is structured across sectors. The premise of the proposed study is that the differing structures of collaboration in particular organizations or industries not only influences men and women scientists? opportunities for finding collaborators, but the subsequent influence of these connections on productive work more generally. The transformative nature of this research lies in the integration of network theories of social structure and current insight in work on gender and occupational dynamics within a national innovation context. In addition, this research employs novel research methods that extend our current approaches to network analysis.Broader ImpactThis project has significant implications for current discussions on the causal factors bringing about sex disparities in science and innovation, and also for the larger theoretical literature on networks and social structure. This research establishes whether network mechanisms across organizational forms result in decreased innovation by women. As such, it provides insights into how policy can be targeted to fully engage women in science and contribute fully to national scientific innovation.