Big Data in Practice: Women (and Men) in Global Science

In this presentation, the global academic profession is explored through a study of digital traces left in publications. A large-scale, generational, and longitudinal approach to academic careers is tested. We discuss how to examine 4.3 million nonoccasional scientists from 38 OECD countries publishing in 1990–2021. Our interest is in the changing global distribution of young male and female scientists over time and across disciplines. The usefulness of global bibliometric data sources (termed structured Big Data) in analyzing scientists and scholars is explored. Our focus is on four dimensions: gender, age, discipline, and time. Traditional aggregated data (e.g., UNESCO, OECD, Eurostat) are unable to show a much nuanced picture of the changing gender dynamics within and across disciplines and age groups, including gender parity (50%/50%). Limitations of bibliometric datasets in studying academic careers are explored, various trade-offs are shown, and a global approach is contrasted with a national-level approach. The methodological choices and their implications are discussed, and new opportunities to study academic careers globally are explored in practice.