Collaboration enhances career progression in academic science, especially for female researchers

Collaboration and diversity are increasingly promoted in science. Yet how collaborations influence academic career progression, and whether this differs by gender, remains largely unknown. Here, we use co-authorship ego networks to quantify collaboration behaviour and career progression of a cohort of contributors to biennial International Society of Behavioral Ecology meetings (1992, 1994, 1996). Among this cohort, women were slower and less likely to become a principal investigator (PI; approximated by having at least three last-author publications) and published fewer papers over fewer years (i.e. had shorter academic careers) than men. After adjusting for publication number, women also had fewer collaborators (lower adjusted network size) and published fewer times with each co-author (lower adjusted tie strength), albeit more often with the same group of collaborators (higher adjusted clustering coefficient). Authors with stronger networks were more likely to become a PI, and those with less clustered networks did so more quickly. Women, however, showed a stronger positive relationship with adjusted network size (increased career length) and adjusted tie strength (increased likelihood to become a PI). Finally, early-career network characteristics correlated with career length. Our results suggest that large and varied collaboration networks are positively correlated with career progression, especially for women.

Automated summary

Collaboration and diversity are increasingly promoted in science, but the influence of collaborations on academic career progression and whether this differs by gender are still largely unknown. A study on participants of biennial International Society of Behavioral Ecology meetings showed that women were slower in career progression compared to men, and had fewer chances to become principal investigators. Women had fewer collaborators and published less frequently with each co-author, although they collaborated more often with the same group of collaborators. The study suggests that large and varied collaboration networks are positively correlated with career progression, especially for women.