Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: the movement for women’s rights began in the 20th century. Although some progress is noted, gender differences are still a problem in many areas, including research. According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), only 28.8% of researchers around the world are women.[1] Besides that, economic differences between countries are also striking: 36 countries are developed economies, 17 are economies in transition and 126 are developing economies, according to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA) [2].
Objectives: to assess the sex of all review authors and the country of origin of the authors of Cochrane Reviews.
Methods: we retrieved all Cochrane Reviews published in issue 3, 2019. We extracted data for the number and sex of authors, and the corresponding author’s country of origin. We classified these in accordance to the UN/DESA classification [2].
Results: we included 54 Cochrane Reviews, signed by 313 authors, 54% of whom were women (170/313). Regarding the country of origin, 85% of authors were from developed economies (46/54), and 15% were from developing economies. No author was from a country identified as having an economy in transition.
Conclusions: although women are a minority in the research field, our sample of Cochrane Reviews showed balance between male and female authors. In relation to the wide difference for the country of origin of the corresponding author, this result may indicate that actions are necessary to identify the reasons for the limited involvement of authors from developing countries in Cochrane Reviews, and to develop strategies to increase this participation, be it through training activities or through dissemination of Cochrane Review results.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: sex disparities remain in several fields, including research. It is important that some equity between countries and inside countries is achieved, as the United Nations proposes through the Sustainable Development Goals.
References
1. UNESCO. Women in Science: the gender gap in science. 2018;(51):1-4. uis.unesco.org.
2. UN/DESA. World Economic Situation and Prospects, 2019.
Objectives: to assess the sex of all review authors and the country of origin of the authors of Cochrane Reviews.
Methods: we retrieved all Cochrane Reviews published in issue 3, 2019. We extracted data for the number and sex of authors, and the corresponding author’s country of origin. We classified these in accordance to the UN/DESA classification [2].
Results: we included 54 Cochrane Reviews, signed by 313 authors, 54% of whom were women (170/313). Regarding the country of origin, 85% of authors were from developed economies (46/54), and 15% were from developing economies. No author was from a country identified as having an economy in transition.
Conclusions: although women are a minority in the research field, our sample of Cochrane Reviews showed balance between male and female authors. In relation to the wide difference for the country of origin of the corresponding author, this result may indicate that actions are necessary to identify the reasons for the limited involvement of authors from developing countries in Cochrane Reviews, and to develop strategies to increase this participation, be it through training activities or through dissemination of Cochrane Review results.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: sex disparities remain in several fields, including research. It is important that some equity between countries and inside countries is achieved, as the United Nations proposes through the Sustainable Development Goals.
References
1. UNESCO. Women in Science: the gender gap in science. 2018;(51):1-4. uis.unesco.org.
2. UN/DESA. World Economic Situation and Prospects, 2019.
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