Is there gender bias in research fellowships awarded by the NHMRC?

Abstract

Objective: To assess whether there is gender bias in the allocation of research fellowships granted by the Research Fellowships Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Data sources: Anonymous data from applications for a research fellowship from 1994 to 1997.

Results: More men than women apply for research fellowships (sex ratio, 2.5:1), but there is no difference in the proportion of male or female applicants who succeed in their application. Among new applicants, men tend to apply for a higher level of fellowship than women.

Conclusions: Lack of data about the numbers of eligible men and women means that we cannot draw conclusions about self-selection biases among potential applicants. However, the selection procedures of the Committee appear to be unbiased. The gender of applicants does not influence the outcome of their application.