Inequalities in academia – impact on early career researchers

As the COVID-19 pandemic first hit and lockdowns began around the world, there emerged a constant stream of reports, articles and briefings, highlighting the impact of Covid-19 on gender equality. Think-pieces were written from the perspective of parents finding it increasingly difficult to conduct research work from home. As authors of these pieces across the globe have highlighted, this pandemic is exacerbating existing inequalities. Women are taking on more of the additional unpaid household work than their male partners, work spurred by school closures and widespread working from home. Without childcare available, households are at risk of going “back to the 1950s”. Running parallel to these informal opinion pieces were studies noting the decrease in the numbers of research papers published by women. This study seeks to better understand the reasons behind this concerning reduction in research produced by women in the wake of COVID-19. It also seeks to build on recent research into the impacts of the pandemic upon the mental health of Early Career Researchers, as well as their ability to conduct work and their future prospects.

This project was conducted and written by Emily Marsay, PhD Researcher at the University of Exeter, as part of a research placement with the Women’s Budget Group and edited by Dr Sara Reis and Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson. This was organised through the South West Doctoral Training Partnership’s Placement Scheme with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the University of Exeter. If you are interested in finding out more about this report, please contact our team at: admin@wbg.org.uk.

Read the full report

Read the executive summary