Gender gaps in scientific performance: a longitudinal matching study of health sciences researchers

The existence of gender disparities in academia is well documented. Many explanations have been proposed and productivity is one of the most used variables to explain a possible correlation between gender and differences in academic rank or leadership positions. The literature on the existence of a productivity gender gap is inconclusive which may due to the variety of study designs. This article presents the results of a longitudinal bibliometric study of health science researchers controlling for sub-disciplinary affiliation, education, year of enrollment and age. The productivity and impact of the researchers are analyzed during a 16-year period. We find no or little difference in productivity or impact among the group of health sciences researchers from the time of enrollment in the Ph.D. program and 10 years beyond, and women outperform men in some cases. There are negligible differences in productivity and impact prior to enrollment. The implications of the findings are discussed.