Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The role of women scholars in the Chilean collaborative educational research: a social network analysis

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Collaboration is an indispensable tool to promote and increase research. However, little is known about the role of women in collaborative efforts among educational scholars, especially in developing countries, such as Chile. We apply social network analysis (SNA) to examine the relationships and patterns that emerge from a dataset retrieved from Web of Science (WoS) of coauthored scholarly publications. Using sociograms and networks’ centrality indicators (density, degree, betweenness, and closeness) and bibliometric results, this study focuses on detecting the role of women in the collaborative networks. Our results show that the presence of women in the research space is stable across time, but they tend to collaborate more than men, acting as important bridgers since 2000, and that their contribution is relevant in promoting networking. This paper invites a reflection about the policies of research and gender, as well as the positionality of women doing knowledge on education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abbasi, A., Altmann, J., & Hwang, J. (2010). Evaluating scholars based on their academic collaboration activities: two indices, the RC-index and the CC-index, for quantifying collaboration activities of researchers and scientific communities. Scientometrics, 83(1), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abramo, G., D'Angelo, C. A., & Capraseccaa, A. (2009). The contribution of star scientists to overall sex differences in research productivity. Scientometrics, 81(1), 137–156. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-008-2131-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abramo, G., D'Angelo, C. A., & Murgia, G. (2013). Gender differences in research collaboration. Journal of Informetrics, 7(4), 811–822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2013.07.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ackers, L., & Gill, B. (2008). Moving people and knowledge: scientific mobility in a enlarging European Union. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publisher.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Acuna, M. E. (2016). Mujeres y educacion superior: cartografias de un transito. In C. Zúñiga, J. Redondo, M. López, & E. S. Cruz (Eds.), Equidad en la educacion superior: desafíos y proyecciones en la experiencia comparada (pp. 153–170). Chile: Ediciones y publicaciones El Buen Aire S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adamic, A., & Adar, E. (2005). How to search a social network. Social Networks, 27(3), 187–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aequalis. (2017). Participación femenina en cargos directivos en instituciones de educación superior chilena. Nota Técnica. Retrieved March 24, 2018, http://www.aequalis.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Participacion-femenina-en-cargos-directivos-IES4.pdf.

  • Alemán, A. M. (2017). Generational dispositions of women faculty: a critical examination. In P. L. Eddy, K. Ward, & T. Khwaja (Eds.), Critical approaches to women and gender in higher education (pp. 215–234). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, P. (2007). What is Web 2.0?: ideas, technologies and implications for education (vol. 1, no. 1). Bristol, England: JISC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Araujo, K., & Moreno, C. (2005). Nudos Críticos para la Igualdad. Género y Educación Superior en Chile. Santiago, Chile: Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano.

  • Araujo, E. B., Araujo, N. A. M., Moreira, A. A., Herrmann, H. J., & Andrade, J. A. S. (2017). Gender differences in scientific collaborations: women are more egalitarian than men. PLoS One, 12(5), e0176791. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176791.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aten, K., DiRenzo, M., & Shatnawi, D. (2017). Gender and professional e-networks: implications of gender heterophily on job search facilitation and outcomes. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 470–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.02.056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Austin, A. E., & Baldwin, R. G. (1991). Faculty collaboration: enhancing the quality of scholarship and teaching. In ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 7. Washington, DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barabási, A. L., Jeong, H., Néda, Z., Ravasz, E., Schubert, A., & Vicsek, T. (2002). Evolution of the social network of scientific collaborations. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 311(3), 590–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, J. A. (1969). Graph theory and social networks: a technical comment on connectedness and connectivity. Sociology, 3(2), 215–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, G. A. (2011). Encyclopedia of social networks, CA: Sage. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Becher, T., & Trowler, P. R. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines. Buckingham: SRHE and Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boschini, A., & Sjogren, A. (2007). Is team formation gender neutral? Evidence from coauthorship patterns. Journal of Labor Economics, 25(2), 325–365. https://doi.org/10.1086/510764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, P. J., Smith, L. K., Cooper, N. J., Williams, K. S., & O'Connor, H. (2015). Gender balance: women are funded more fairly in social science. Nature, 525, 181–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., & Gaughan, M. (2011). How do men and women differ in research collaborations? An analysis of the collaborative motives and strategies of academic researchers. Research Policy, 40(10), 1393–1402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2011.07.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., & Youtie, J. (2016). Trouble in paradise: problems in academic research co-authoring. Science and Engineering Ethics, 22(6), 1717–1743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-015-9722-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bozeman, B., Gaughan, M., Youtie, J., Slade, C. P., & Rimes, H. (2016). Research collaboration experiences, good and bad: dispatches from the front lines. Science and Public Policy, 43(2), 226–244. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scv035.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braisher, T. L., Symonds, M. R. E., & Gemmell, N. J. (2005). Publication success in nature and science is not gender dependent. BioEssays, 27(8), 858–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunner, J. J., & Salazar, F. (2009). La investigación educacional en Chile: una aproximación bibliométrica no convencional. Documento de Trabajo CPCE, 1. Retrieved June 6, 2018, http://www.cpce.cl/publicaciones/documentos-de-trabajo/29-la-investigacion-educacional-en-chile-una-aproximacion-bibliometrica-no-convencional.

  • Carcamo, P. F., Garay-Fluhmann, R., & Gaymer, C. F. (2014). Collaboration and knowledge networks in coastal resources management: how critical stakeholders interact for multiple-use marine protected area implementation. Ocean & Coastal Management, 91, 5–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2014.01.007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castillo, R., Grazzi, M., & Tacsir, E. (2014). Women in science and technology. What does the literature say. Retrieved March 24, 2018, https://publications.iadb.org/bitstream/handle/11319/6047/CTI_TN_Women_in_Science_and_Technology.pdf?sequence=1.

  • CINDA. (2016). Educación Superior en Iberoamérica: Informe 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2018, https://www.cinda.cl/download/libros/CINDA-2012-Informe-de-Educacion-Superior-INTERIOR-101%20(1).pdf.

  • Coate, K., & Howson, C. K. (2016). Indicators of esteem: gender and prestige in academic work. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 37(4), 567–585. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2014.955082.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CONICYT. (2016). Realidad nacional en formacion y promocion de mujeres cientificas en ciencia, tecnologia, ingenieira y matematicas. Retrieved March 24, 2018, Santiago, Chile: http://www.conicyt.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/PPT-Estudio-Realidad-NACIONAL-Genero-y-STEM_16_CONICYT-ISONOMA.pdf.

  • CONICYT. (2017a). Participación femenina en programas de CONICYT 2007–2016. Retrieved March 24, 2018, www.conicyt.cl.

  • CONICYT. (2017b). Política Institucional Equidad de Género en Ciencias y Tecnología. Período 2017–2025. Retrieved March 24, 2018, www.conicyt.cl.

  • Cruz-Ramírez, M., Escalona-Reyes, M., Cabrera-García, S., & Martínez-Cepena, M. C. (2014). Análisis cienciométrico de las publicaciones educacionales cubanas en la WoS y Scopus (2003–2012). Revista Española de Documentación Científica, 37(3), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Degenee, A., & Forse, M. (1999). Introducing social networks. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dehdarirad, T., Villarroya, A., & Barrios, M. (2015). Research on women in science and higher education: a bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics, 103(3), 795–812. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-015-1574-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, Y. (2011). Scientific collaboration and endorsement: network analysis of coauthorship and citation networks. Journal of Informetrics, 5(1), 187–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, L. C. (1979). Centrality in social networks conceptual clarification. Social Networks, 1, 215–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, L. C. (2004). The development of social network analysis: a study in the sociology of science. Vancouver: Empirical Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaskell, J. (2013). Reflections on women and success in the academy. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 34(4), 615–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K. J. (2009). Relational being: beyond self and community. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosz, E. (2010). The practice of feminist theory. Differences—A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, 21(1), 94–108. https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-2009-019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzman-Valenzuela, C., & Munoz-Garcia, A. L. (2018). Decolonizing international collaborative work: creating new grammars for academic partnerships in Chile. In L. Gornall, B. Thomas, & L. Sweetman (Eds.), Exploring Consensual Leadership in Higher Education: Co-operation, Collaboration and Partnership (pp. 171–190). London, UK: Bloomsbury.

  • Jaksztat, S. (2017). Gender and research productivity. Zeitschrift Fur Soziologie, 46(5), 347–361. https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsoz-2017-1019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang, Y. (2008). Locating active actors in the scientific collaboration communities based on interaction topology analyses. Scientometrics, 74(3), 471–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kato, M., & Ando, A. (2017). National ties of international scientific collaboration and researcher mobility found in nature and science. Scientometrics, 110(2), 673–694. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2183-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, J. S., & Martin, B. R. (1997). What is research collaboration? Research Policy, 26(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0048-7333(96)00917-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilduff, M., & Tsai, W. (2003). Social networks and organizations. London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, D. H., & Bak, H. J. (2017). Incentivizing research collaboration using performance-based reward systems. Science and Public Policy, 44(2), 186–198. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scw050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klavans, R., & Boyack, K. W. (2006). Identifying a better measure of relatedness for mapping science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(2), 251–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knoke, D., & Yang, S. (2008). Social network analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Larivière, V., Vignola-Gagné, E., Villeneuve, C., Gélinas, P., & Gingras, Y. (2011). Sex differences in research funding, productivity and impact: an analysis of Quebec university professors. Scientometrics, 87(3), 483–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lather, P. (2009). Getting lost: feminist efforts toward a double(d) science. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 30(1), 222–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leahey, E., Crockett, J. L., & Hunter, L. A. (2008). Gendered academic careers: specializing for success? Social Forces, 86(3), 1273–1309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loan-Clarke, J., & Preston, D. (2002). Tensions and benefits in collaborative research involving a university and another organization. Studies in Higher Education, 27(2), 169–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lutter, M., & Schroder, M. (2016). Who becomes a tenured professor, and why? Panel data evidence from German sociology, 1980–2013. Research Policy, 45(5), 999–1013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2016.01.019.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado-Maldonado, A. (2009). Latin American higher education: hope in the struggle. In D. Palfreyman & T. Tapper (Eds.), Structuring mass higher education: the role of elite institutions (pp. 73–94). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattessich, P. W., & Monsey, B. R. (1992). Collaboration: what makes it work. A review of research literature on factors influencing successful collaboration. St. Paul: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, J. M., Singell, L. D., & Stater, M. (2006). Two to tango? Gender differences in the decisions to publish and coauthor. Economic Inquiry, 44(1), 153–168. https://doi.org/10.1093/ei/cbi065.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeely, C. L., & Vlaicu, S. (2010). Exploring institutional hiring trends of women in the U.S. STEM professoriate. Review of Policy Research, 27(6), 781–793. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2010.00471.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morley, L. (2007). Sister-matic: gender mainstreaming in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 12(5/6), 607–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muijs, D., Ainscow, M., Chapman, C., & West, M. (2011). Collaboration and networking in education. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2017). The pursuit of gender equality: an uphill battle. Retrieved March 24, 2018, http://www.ungei.org/OECD_2017_The_Pursuit_of_Gender_Equality_book_2017.pdf.

  • O'Meara, J., & Spittle, M. (2012). Internationalising education: global perspectives on collaboration and change. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pao, M. L. (1992). Global and local collaborators: a study of scientific collaboration. Information Processing and Management, 28(1), 99–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prpic, K. (2002). Gender and productivity differentials in science. Scientometrics, 55(1), 27–58. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1016046819457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivera, L. A. (2017). When two bodies are (not) a problem: gender and relationship status discrimination in academic hiring. American Sociological Review, 82(6), 1111–1138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417739294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakamoto, R., & Chapman, D. W. (2011). Cross-border partnerships in higher education: strategies and issues. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savigny, H. (2014). Women, know your limits: cultural sexism in academia, 26(7), 794–809. Gender and Education, 26(7), 794–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaeffer, D. (2001). Feminism and liberalism reconsidered: the case of Catharine MacKinnon. The American Political Science Review, 95(3), 699–708.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schensul, J. J., LeCompte, M. D., Trotter, R. T., Cromley, E. K., & Singer, M. (1999). Mapping social networks, spatial data, and hidden populations. Walnut Creek: Altamira Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. (2000). Social network analysis: a handbook. Thousands Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J., & Carrington, P. J. (Eds.). (2011). The SAGE handbook of social network analysis. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheridan, J., Savoy, J. N., Kaatz, A., Lee, Y. G., Filut, A., & Carnes, M. (2017). Write more articles, get more grants: the impact of department climate on faculty research productivity. Journal of Womens Health, 26(5), 587–596. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2016.6022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, R., Rajashekhar, P., Lavin, V. L., Parry, J., Attwood, J., Holdcroft, A., & Sanders, D. S. (2009). The gender imbalance in academic medicine: a study of female authorship in the United Kingdom. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 102(8), 337–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SIES. (2008). Informe personal académico 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2018, http://www.mifuturo.cl/index.php/informes-sies/academicos.

  • SIES. (2017a). Informe personal académico 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2018, http://www.mifuturo.cl/index.php/informes-sies/academicos.

  • SIES. (2017b). Informe de Matrícula 2017 en Educación Superior. Retrieved March 24, 2018, http://www.mifuturo.cl/index.php/informes-sies/matriculados.

  • Smith, J. L., Handley, I. M., Zale, A. V., Rushing, S., & Potvin, M. A. (2015). Now hiring! Empirically testing a three-step intervention to increase faculty gender diversity in STEM. Bioscience, 65(11), 1084–1087. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biv138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tao, Y., Hong, W., & Ma, Y. (2017). Gender differences in publication productivity among academic scientists and engineers in the US and China: similarities and differences. Minerva, 55(4), 459–484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-017-9320-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: refusing research. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing research: decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223–248). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO. (2017). Rendir cuentas en el ámbito de la educación: Cumplir nuestros compromisos. Retrieved June 6, 2018, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002610/261016S.pdf.

  • UNESCO. (2018). UNESCO eAtlas of gender inequality in education. Retrieved June 6, 2018 https://tellmaps.com/uis/gender/#!/tellmap/79054752/5.

  • Valian, V. (2005). Beyond gender schemas: improving the advancement of women in academia. Hypatia, 20(3), 198–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van den Besselaar, P., & Sandstrom, U. (2015). Early career grants, performance, and careers: a study on predictive validity of grant decisions. Journal of Informetrics, 9(4), 826–838. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2015.07.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: methods and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Winslow, S., & Davis, S. N. (2016). Gender inequality across the academic life course. Sociology Compass, 10(5), 404–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, H. R., Cooper, L., & Luff, P. (2017). Women’s ways of working: circumventing the masculine structures operating within and upon the university. Womens Studies International Forum, 61, 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2016.11.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The writing of this article was supported by the International Network for Early Researchers Fund #REDI170106, granted by the Chilean National Commission of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT). The ideas expressed are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan Pablo Queupil.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Queupil, J.P., Muñoz-García, A.L. The role of women scholars in the Chilean collaborative educational research: a social network analysis. High Educ 78, 115–131 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0333-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0333-3

Keywords

Navigation