Covid-19 widened the gender gap among the world’s top scientists

Many women have borne the brunt of care work during the pandemic in ways that impact their work. A new study shows that academic medical researchers, who represent some of the most accomplished scientists with decades of education under their belts, are no exception to that trend. In a new analysis published Sept. 17, researchers from the University of Texas analyzed preprints of papers in medRxiv and bioRxiv—two databases that curate preprints of medical scientific papers and biological scientific papers, respectively—and found that the proportion of papers with female authors had declined in both during the pandemic.