
Female scientists less likely to get a high grant proposal score due to wording - Quanttek
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/who-gets-grant-money-gendered-words-decide
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Quanttek
> Female scientists are 16% less likely than men to get a high score on their
> grant proposal, and new research suggests word choice might be the reason
> why.

[...]

> According to the researchers, women used “narrower” words that are “highly
> concentrated in a small number of topics.” Male applicants, on the other
> hand, tended to use “broad” words, which “appear at similar rates in all
> topic areas,” the study stated.

> Women’s use of topic-specific words lowers their chance of getting a high
> score from reviewers compared to men.

> "Even after accounting for the quantity and quality of male and female
> applicants, there is still a disparity in outcomes that favors men over
> women,” Kolev said. “This is a problem not only because of the general issue
> of underrepresentation of women in science and technology, but also because
> this disparity strongly suggests that the reviewers are allocating funding
> inefficiently and failing to make the best use of their organization’s
> resources."

> In fact, the researchers found that women who received grants during the
> time of the study “may well generate a greater ‘return’ on resources
> compared to their male counterparts."

> Murray said the burden lies equally with funders and applicants. Kolev said
> while female applicants could alter their communication style in pursuit of
> grant funding, doing so carries the potential risk of undermining the
> quality of their research.

