PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
January 11, 2022; vol. 119 no. 2
https://www.pnas.org/content/119/2

Social Sciences
Open Access
Intersectional inequalities in science
Diego Kozlowski, Vincent Larivière, Cassidy R. Sugimoto, and Thema Monroe-White
PNAS January 11, 2022 119 (2) e2113067119; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113067119
Significance
The US scientific workforce is not representative of the population. Barriers to entry and participation have been well-studied; however, few have examined the effect of these disparities on the advancement of science. Furthermore, most studies have looked at either race or gender, failing to account for the intersection of these variables. Our analysis utilizes millions of scientific papers to study the relationship between scientists and the science they produce. We find a strong relationship between the characteristics of scientists and their research topics, suggesting that diversity changes the scientific portfolio with consequences for career advancement for minoritized individuals. Science policies should consider this relationship to increase equitable participation in the scientific workforce and thereby improve the robustness of science.