Gender, Parenting, and Scholarly Productivity during the Global Pandemic

Abstract

Has the global COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the scholarly productivity of academics? Do gender and parenting magnify its effect? To obtain insight into the changes the pandemic has wrought to the lives and careers of women and parents in academia, we surveyed scholars in political science and international studies. The survey was in the field during the period in which many academics experienced shelter-at-home orders and were adjusting to a new reality. It captures initial reactions to changed circumstances, as well as the fears and anticipated consequences of the disruptions. We find that perceptions of a negative impact are quite broadly shared. The open-ended responses suggest the pandemic may widen the gender and parent productivity gaps. Although further analysis is needed to better understand the effect of the pandemic on scholarly productivity, we conclude that the pandemic enhances existing structural inequalities.

Content

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting and Discussion Policy [opens in a new tab] – please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .