Published in the Research School of Physics Event Horizon
Vol45 Issue19 11–15 May 2020

RSPhys Equity and Diversity Committee Message

Caroline Kitchener from Washington Post’s “The Lily” reports that “Six weeks into widespread self-quarantine, editors of academic journals have started noticing a trend: Women — who inevitably shoulder a greater share of family responsibilities — seem to be submitting fewer papers.”  Astrophysics is one field in which covid-19 seems to be having a disproportionate effect on female academics, said Andy Casey, an astrophysics research fellow at Monash University who analyzed the number of submissions to astrophysics “preprint servers,” where academics typically post early versions of their papers. For The Lily, Casey compared data from January to April in 2020 to the same time period in previous years, noting “perhaps up to 50 percent more productivity loss among women.”

And for a personal take on how and why this happens read Alessandra Minello’s story published in Nature’s World View column. 

This is something to keep in mind next time you assess grant proposal and promotion statements on research outputs relative to opportunity.