The Gender Gap in Brazilian Entomology: an Analysis of the Academic Scenario

Abstract

Although women are about half of world's population, they are underrepresented in many sectors including academia and the research scenario in general. Gender gap in Entomology has been pointed out in other publications; however, data for Brazil has never been demonstrated. Here we provide a diagnosis for the Brazilian Entomology scenario in order to contribute to propositions towards disentangling the gender gap in general. We analyzed scientometric data for Brazilian Entomology focusing on gender disparity and on personal perceptions related to the gender gap through an online questionnaire. We detected a pervasive gender bias in which the scissor-shaped curve is the most representative effect of it: women were the majority in lower degree stages but the minority in higher degree stages (permanent positions and positions of prestige and power). We also observed mentorship bias and discussed these results in light of intersectionality and the COVID-19 pandemic. Gender differences were perceived differently by the questionnaire respondents considering age, gender, and parenting. With this data and analyses, we have provided elements to stimulate and support change to a healthier and more equitable academic space.

Keywords: Insects; Lattes; Leaky pipeline; Scissor effect; Sucupira.

Fig. 1

General scheme summarizing CAPES Sucupira datasets used in the present study of the gender gap in Brazilian Entomology. “Entomology keywords” (Fig. 2) and “Entomology graduate courses” (EGCs, Figs. 3 and 4) corresponded to different time intervals for the publicly available data that we had access to. Those two major groups of datasets were used to analyze other datasets (indicated by arrows, see more in Suppl. Mat. 1). In “EGCs datasets” the source of the information for that dataset is written alongside the arrow. For “Entomology keywords,” they all derive from CAPES

Fig. 2

Entomology keywords results showing in A map of Brazilian regions showing the total number of theses and dissertations (T&Ds); darker areas highlight the higher number of T&Ds. The 20 graduate courses with highest number of Entomology T&Ds are shown in orange and, in green, those that are Entomology graduate courses (EGC). B Number of T&Ds per Master (MSc, solid line) or Doctorate (PhD, dashed line) levels per year. C Number of T&Ds proportionally to each main area, with “Multidisc.” corresponding to Multidisciplinary science, and “Other” to Exact sciences, Engineering, and Humanities

Fig. 3

Leaky pipeline in Brazilian Entomology, represented by the Entomology graduate courses (EGCs). A Number of female and male professors in EGCs. B Proportion of professors in different job positions. The total number (n) per job position is given below each position. C Proportion of female and male students (Bachelor Degree “BD,” Master “MSc,” and Doctorate “PhD”) and postdoc (PDs) for each of the EGC professors, as well as their status in the CNPq Productivity fellowship (“CNPq Prod.”). D Changes in mandates of EGC coordinators, each dot corresponding to a different person from the coordinator of the previous mandate. The grey dot represents a mandate with missing data

Fig. 4

A Proportion of female (F) and male (M) students (Bachelor Degree “BD,” Master “MSc,” and Doctorate “PhD”) and postdoc (PDs) by male and female professors (indicated by colors) on the 12 Brazilian Entomology graduate courses (EGCs). B Boxplots with the individual values plotted demonstrating the difference of female and male students related to their time until defense per level and C as in B, for time until abandonment of the graduate course (years)