New study examines gender differences in obtaining first NIH research award

A study of more than 5,400 instructors and assistant professors at Harvard Medical School compared differences between males and females for receipt of their first National Institutes of Health research award. The study, which also examined gender differences in numbers of publications, h-index, size of coauthor networks, and becoming an assistant professor, is published in Journal of Women's Health.

Erica Warner, ScD, MPH and coauthors from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA reported that only 7.6% (413/5,445) of young researchers at Harvard Medical School received their first NIH R01 award during the study period of 2008-2015. They found no significant gender difference in the likelihood of receiving an award, as detailed in the article entitled "Gender Differences in Receipt of National Institutes of Health R01 Grants Among Junior Faculty at an Academic Medical Center: The Role of Connectivity, Rank, and Research Productivity", The study design did not allow them to distinguish between faculty that did not apply for a grant award and those who applied but were not successful.

"This study examined the outcome of the complex process involved in applying for and obtaining a research award from the NIH. The authors observed no significant sex disparity in receipt of a R01 grant, but they did find that females overall had fewer publications, a lower h-index, smaller coauthor networks, and were less likely to be assistant professors," says Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Women's Health, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women's Health, Richmond, VA, and President of the Academy of Women's Health.