Identifying gender discrimination in the allocations of public grants is a matter of key importance. The objective of this article is to explore the presence of gender bias in the allocation of public funds to support scientific activity by studying the Fund for Scientific and Technological Research (FONCYT) in Argentina.
In order to identifying gender discrimination in the allocations of grants, we test the presence of Matthew and Matilda effects. The former is related to the positive feedbacks between previous access to public funds and present possibilities of accessing. The latter, in turn, refers to lower level of probabilities of accessing and remaining for women. Research questions are about the existence and verification of Matthew and Matilda effects.
The database consist of all the researchers that applied to FONCYT between 2003 and 2015, whether they were granted or not. Available information includes participation into the program together with their scientific production, academic achievements, and demographic information -such as date of birth, gender, place of residence, academic affiliation, years of experience, and other relevant data is considered. The period under analysis coincides with a period of significant expansion of the fund given by an increase in the level of financial resources. Additionally, the information related to academic productivity was validated with bibliometric information retrieved from SCOPUS database. Results provide evidence that confirms multiple forms of the Matilda effect, and verifies the Matthew one in the scientific research subsidy program. This seems to verify that female researchers suffer a strong disadvantage in the allocation of public funds to finance their research projects.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ
