Abstract
This paper examines the factors associated with the attainment of leadership positions of men and women academic scientists. Based on the literature, we develop hypotheses for three determinants of leadership: social relationships, reputation, and gender. Social relationships concern the importance of the network connections; reputation recognizes the importance of science ability; characteristics include individual traits such as gender. We test the resulting model on the likelihood of attaining three different types of academic science leadership - center leadership, university administrative leadership, and discipline leadership. Regression analysis uses data from a National Science Foundation funded survey of scientists in which social network, attitudinal and behavior data were collected to understand how social networks affect career trajectories of men and women. Findings show that while science reputation is strongly associated with center and discipline leadership, it is less strongly associated with administrative leadership. Also, large dense collaboration networks are important for center leadership, but the opposite is true for administrative leadership. Women are more likely to be in discipline leadership positions and less likely to be a leader of a research center or have an administrative university leadership position. Finally, having more women in the network reduces the likelihood of attaining discipline or center leadership positions. Conclusions interpret findings for policy and theory.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 2011 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy: Building Capacity for Scientific Innovation and Outcomes, ACSIP 2011, Proceedings |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | 2011 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy: Building Capacity for Scientific Innovation and Outcomes, ACSIP 2011 - Atlanta, GA, United States Duration: Sep 15 2011 → Sep 17 2011 |
Other
| Other | 2011 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy: Building Capacity for Scientific Innovation and Outcomes, ACSIP 2011 |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| City | Atlanta, GA |
| Period | 9/15/11 → 9/17/11 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Career development
- educational institutions
- social factors
- sociology
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Management of Technology and Innovation
Cite this
Science leadership : Is it what you know, who you know or who you are? / Parker, Marla A.; Welch, Eric.
2011 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy: Building Capacity for Scientific Innovation and Outcomes, ACSIP 2011, Proceedings. 2011. 6064480.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Science leadership
T2 - Is it what you know, who you know or who you are?
AU - Parker, Marla A.
AU - Welch, Eric
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - This paper examines the factors associated with the attainment of leadership positions of men and women academic scientists. Based on the literature, we develop hypotheses for three determinants of leadership: social relationships, reputation, and gender. Social relationships concern the importance of the network connections; reputation recognizes the importance of science ability; characteristics include individual traits such as gender. We test the resulting model on the likelihood of attaining three different types of academic science leadership - center leadership, university administrative leadership, and discipline leadership. Regression analysis uses data from a National Science Foundation funded survey of scientists in which social network, attitudinal and behavior data were collected to understand how social networks affect career trajectories of men and women. Findings show that while science reputation is strongly associated with center and discipline leadership, it is less strongly associated with administrative leadership. Also, large dense collaboration networks are important for center leadership, but the opposite is true for administrative leadership. Women are more likely to be in discipline leadership positions and less likely to be a leader of a research center or have an administrative university leadership position. Finally, having more women in the network reduces the likelihood of attaining discipline or center leadership positions. Conclusions interpret findings for policy and theory.
AB - This paper examines the factors associated with the attainment of leadership positions of men and women academic scientists. Based on the literature, we develop hypotheses for three determinants of leadership: social relationships, reputation, and gender. Social relationships concern the importance of the network connections; reputation recognizes the importance of science ability; characteristics include individual traits such as gender. We test the resulting model on the likelihood of attaining three different types of academic science leadership - center leadership, university administrative leadership, and discipline leadership. Regression analysis uses data from a National Science Foundation funded survey of scientists in which social network, attitudinal and behavior data were collected to understand how social networks affect career trajectories of men and women. Findings show that while science reputation is strongly associated with center and discipline leadership, it is less strongly associated with administrative leadership. Also, large dense collaboration networks are important for center leadership, but the opposite is true for administrative leadership. Women are more likely to be in discipline leadership positions and less likely to be a leader of a research center or have an administrative university leadership position. Finally, having more women in the network reduces the likelihood of attaining discipline or center leadership positions. Conclusions interpret findings for policy and theory.
KW - Career development
KW - educational institutions
KW - social factors
KW - sociology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=81255200271&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=81255200271&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ACSIP.2011.6064480
DO - 10.1109/ACSIP.2011.6064480
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:81255200271
SN - 9781457713910
BT - 2011 Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy: Building Capacity for Scientific Innovation and Outcomes, ACSIP 2011, Proceedings
ER -