Gender diversity in the management field: Does it matter for research outcomes?

Mathias Wullum Nielsen*, Love Börjeson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

50 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity and research outcomes. Existing research on the topic primarily focuses on how team gender diversity influences scholarly productivity in terms of citations and publication rates. Far less attention has been devoted to the question of how the intellectual contents of research disciplines change as they become more gender diverse. Drawing on a global sample of more than 25,000 management papers, we use natural language processing techniques, correspondence analysis and regression models to illuminate impact-, content- and status-related dimensions of gender diversity in management research. In regression models adjusting for geographical setting, institutional prestige and collaboration patterns, we find no discernable effects of team gender diversity on per-paper scientific impact. In contrast, our analyses converge to yield a broadly consistent pattern of gender-related variations in research focus: women are well-represented in social- and human-centered areas of management, while men comprise the vast majority in areas addressing more technical and operational aspects. Our findings corroborate recent sociological research suggesting that cultural norms and expectations are channeling women and men towards different areas of work and study. We argue that the broadened repertoire of perspectives, values and questions resulting from gender diversity may render management research more responsive to the full gamut of societal needs and expectations.

Original languageEnglish
JournalResearch Policy
Volume48
Issue number7
Pages (from-to)1617-1632
Number of pages16
ISSN0048-7333
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bibliometrics
  • Citations
  • Gender diversity
  • Management research
  • Research outcomes
  • Research questions
  • Topic modeling

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