Women in academia: Career development, inequality and other experiences of research scientists in Panama

Guillermina De Gracia ,Gabisel Barsallo ,Elisa Mendoza

doi:10.24294/jipd10840

Home - JIPD - Volume 9 - Issue 2

Submit to JIPD

Journal Browser

Volume | Year

Issue

• Current lssue

View All

News and Announcements

View All

Women in academia: Career development, inequality and other experiences of research scientists in Panama

Guillermina De Gracia

Gabisel Barsallo

Elisa Mendoza

Journal of Infrastructure Policy and Development 2025, 9(2), 10840; https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd10840

Submitted：10 Dec 2024

Accepted：28 Feb 2025

Published：18 Mar 2025

Download PDF(502.72KB)

XML

Abstract

Historically, women have faced progressive and persistent obstacles and prejudices preventing them from fully participating in and receiving recognition for scientific research in academia. In Panama, local gender studies specifically targeting the area of academia are scarce. However, to close the gender gap, this article tries to uncover the realities of women academics who dare to research and do science in Panama, beyond statistics. A virtual survey was distributed from May to August 2023, in which 921 academics (45% men and 55% women) affiliated with public universities in Panama were surveyed. Through an empirical analysis from a gender perspective, participants’ attitudes and perceptions on the effects of the covid-19 pandemic on research, the quality of higher education in Panama, the dissemination and transmission of knowledge, and research as an adjuvant to higher education were revealed. Findings reiterate the gender bias and underrepresentation of women in Panamanian public universities and the lack of commitment to their capacity building, research, and dissemination of results. It also confirmed that, despite the covid-19 pandemic and its negative effects in all areas, the importance and recognition of scientific research were highlighted, allowing women academics to excel competitively and take advantage of new opportunities in their career development.

Keywords

Materials1. Background and significance of the research

References

Abizanda, B., Almeyda, G., Arias Ortiz, E., et al. (2022). How to rebuild post-pandemic education? Solutions to fulfill the promise of a better future for youth (Spanish). Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0004241

Álvarez Marinelli, H., Arias Ortiz, E., Bergamaschi, A., et al. (2020). Education in times of coronavirus: Education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to COVID-19 (Spanish). Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0002337

Avila, H. F., Gómez, M. R. B., Estevill, R. F. V. (2018). The methodological dimension of scientific research design (Spanish). Las Tunas, Cuba: Académica Universitaria.

Avolio, B., Pardo, E., & Prados-Peña, Ma. B. (2023). Factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of women academics worldwide: A literature review. Social Psychology of Education, 27(1), 261–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-023-09838-3

Baeza Reyes, A., & Lamadrid Ãlvarez, S. (2019). Equality in academia? Gender barriers and initiatives at a public university (2013-2018) (Spanish). Pensamiento Educativo: Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana, 56(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.7764/pel.56.1.2019.9

Barsallo, G., & Mendoza, E. (2022). Enough Crises to Choose from: The Perceived Sense of Crisis in Panama. Social Sciences, 11(8), 339. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11080339

Barsallo, G., Mendoza, E., Arboleda, M., et al. (2025). Academics’ motivation to research: a study on public universities in Panama. Frontiers in Education, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1465824

Begeny, C. T., Ryan, M. K., Moss-Racusin, C. A., et al. (2020). In some professions, women have become well represented, yet gender bias persists—Perpetuated by those who think it is not happening. Science Advances, 6(26). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba7814

Bellotti, E., Czerniawska, D., Everett, M. G., et al. (2022). Gender inequalities in research funding: Unequal network configurations, or unequal network returns? Social Networks, 70, 138–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2021.12.007

Bezerra, G., Lazzaro, D., Peixoto, A., et al. (2019). Female researchers in science in Brazil: The scissors effect. In: Montes, L. M., & Ponce Dawson, S. (editors). La brecha de género en Matemática, Computación y Ciencias Naturales: un abordaje desde América Latina. Sociedad Mexicana de Fisica. pp. 55-68.

Buchmann, C., & DiPrete, T. A. (2006). The Growing Female Advantage in College Completion: The Role of Family Background and Academic Achievement. American Sociological Review, 71(4), 515–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240607100401

Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of sex. Routledge.

Cabezas Sánchez, C. (2022). La investigación y publicación científica en medio de la pandemia. Anales de La Facultad de Medicina, 83(3), 171–173. https://doi.org/10.15381/anales.v83i3.23750

Clark Blickenstaff, J. (2005). Women and science careers: leaky pipeline or gender filter? Gender and Education, 17(4), 369–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250500145072

Climent, V., Pitarch, F. M., & Ripollés, M., et al. (2013). Los rankings universitarios, mitos y realidades. Tecnos.

Cois, E., Naldini, M., & Solera, C. (2023). Addressing Gender Inequality in National Academic Contexts. An Introduction to the Symposium “Don’t Fix Women, Fix Academia?”. Sociologica, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.6092/ISSN.1971-8853/18373

Cronin, C., Roger, A. (1999). Theorizing progress: Women in science, engineering, and technology in higher education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36(6), 637–661. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2736(199908)36:6<637::AID-TEA4>3.0.CO;2-9

Cuenca, A., & Schettini, P. (2020). The effects of the pandemic on social science methodology (Spanish). Escenarios, (32).

de Sánchez, L. C., & Sánchez, K. K. (2022). Importance of research for the improvement of the quality of human resources at universities (Spanish). Societas, 24(1), 195–206.

Gentili, P. (2012). The persistence of gender inequalities (Spanish). Cuadernos del Pensamiento Crítico Latinoamericano, 52, 1-8.

Gómez Suárez, Á., & Vázquez Silva, I. (2022). Gender impact and pandemic in the academy. More exhausted and impoverished women academics (Spanish). Universitas Revista de Filosofía, Derecho y Política, 39, 27–56. https://doi.org/10.20318/universitas.2022.7035

González, A., Vera Gajardo, A. (2019). Chilean Reality in Training and Promotion of Women Scientists in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. In: Montes, L. M., & Ponce Dawson, S. (editors). La brecha de género en Matemática, Computación y Ciencias Naturales: un abordaje desde América Latina. pp. 69-84.

González, N., Pirela, A., & Zerpa, M. L. (2012). Teacher training as a researcher. A University Social Responsibility (Spanish). Opción, 28(69), 466-479.

Guizardi, M., Gonzálvez, H., & Stefoni, C. (2024). Women in Latin American Academia. Estudos Ibero-Americanos, e44895. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-864x.2024.1.44895

Huang, J., Gates, A. J., Sinatra, R., et al. (2020). Historical comparison of gender inequality in scientific careers across countries and disciplines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(9), 4609–4616. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914221117

IESALC, UNESCO. (2020). COVID-19 y educación superior: de los efectos inmediatos al día después; análisis de impactos, respuestas políticas y recomendaciones. Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000375125 (accessed on 25 March 2025).

Kam, J., & Lee, S. (2024). Female Representation in Academia: Are Women Underrepresented among Faculty at Public Colleges and Universities? International Economic Journal, 38(2), 185–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/10168737.2024.2309353

Khan, T., & Siriwardhane, P. (2021). Barriers to Career Progression in the Higher Education Sector: Perceptions of Australian Academics. Sustainability, 13(11), 6255. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116255

Labrador, A., Sánchez, M., Henríquez, L., et al. (2022). Perception of higher education in post-pandemic Panama. In: Proceedings of the 7th Congress of Research, Development and Innovation of the International University of Science and Technology. pp. 286–293.

Lebrija, A. (2020). Research Culture: Training of teacher-researchers at the Universidad Especializada de las Américas (Spanish). REDES, 1(8), 23–38. Available online: https://revistas.udelas.ac.pa/index.php/redes/article/view/27 (accessed on 1 December 2024).

Llorens, A., Tzovara, A., Bellier, L., et al. (2021). Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions. Neuron, 109(13), 2047–2074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

Martelo, R. J., Franco, D. A., & Oyola, P. S. (2020). Factores que influyen en la calidad de la educación virtual. Espacios, 41(46), 352–361. https://doi.org/10.48082/espacios-a20v41n46p29

Mendoza, E., Barsallo, G., Ordoñez, C., & Bula, R. (2025). Validation of the instrument (ENACT) that evaluates the academic profile of teachers and motivational factors towards research (Spanish). Revista Conrado, 21. https://conrado.ucf.edu.cu/index.php/conrado/article/view/4228/3873.

Ministerio de la Mujer, MINJUP. (2024). Política Pública de Igualdad de Oportunidades para las Mujeres 2024–2034 (PPIOM). Available online: https://lac.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2024-05/politicapublica-igualdadoportunidades-panama_28mayo-web.pdf (accessed on 1 December 2024).

Murillo-Gonzalez, D., Zapata, R., & López, O. (2023). Analysis of Panamanian researcher profiles and bibliometric indicators from Google Scholar (Spanish). Revista Española de Documentación Científica, 46(1), e349. https://doi.org/10.3989/redc.2023.1.1962

Parra-Valencia, J. A., Lizette-Massey, M. (2023). Exploring Gender Inequality and Practical Solutions for an Equitable Environment for Women in Scientific Vocations. In: Qudrat-Ullah, H. (editor). Managing Complex Tasks with Systems Thinking. Springer

Peralta, M. S., Marín, J. (2022). Alternatives of the Higher Education Administration to the effect of covid-19 (Spanish). Revista científica CENTROS, 9(2), 178-187. https://doi.org/10.48204/j.centros.v9n2a11

Ponce Dawson, S., Gledhill, I., & Chiu, M.-H. (2020). Impact of the Gender Gap in Science project in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In: Guillopé, C., Roy, M.-F. (editors). A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences How to Measure It, How to Reduce It? International Science Council. Available online: https://gender-gap-in-science.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/final_report_20200204-1.pdf (accessed on 1 December 2024).

Reisberg, L. (2021). Diagnosis of Higher Education in Panama: Challenges and Opportunities (Spanish). Inter-American Development Bank. https://doi.org/10.18235/0003329

Rincón, G. B., & Domínguez, A. D. (2023). Academic Career Advances and Gender Gap. Political Studies Review, 21(1), 42–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211044012

Ríos González, N., Mandiola Cotroneo, M., Varas Alvarado, A. (2017). Doing gender, doing academia: A feminist analysis of the organization of academic work in Chile (Spanish). Psicoperspectivas, 16(2), 114-124. https://doi.org/10.5027/psicoperspectivas-Vol16-Issue2-fulltext-1041

Rodríguez Blanco, E., de León, N., Marco Serra, Y., y Cámara, S. (2018). Gender diagnosis on the participation of women in science in Panama (Spanish). Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. Available online: https://mujeresenciencia.senacyt.gob.pa/ (accessed on 1 December 2024).

Rodríguez-Ponce, E. R., Pedraja-Rejas, L. M., Ganga-Contreras, F. A., et al. (2024). Institutional learning in universities: a theoretical model (Spanish). Formación Universitaria, 17(4), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-50062024000400015

Ronconi, L., Kanbur, R., López-Cariboni, S. (2023). Who claims labor (de)regulation in the developing world? Rethinking the insider-outsider theory (Spanish). Revista Internacional Del Trabajo, 142(2), 247–270. https://doi.org/10.1111/ilrs.12278

Safdar, B., Naveed, S., Chaudhary, A. M. D., et al. (2021). Gender Disparity in Grants and Awards at the National Institute of Health. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.14644

Sanhueza Díaz, L., Fernández Darraz, C., & Montero Vargas, L. (2020). Gender segregation: women’s narratives from academia (Spanish). Polis (Santiago), 55. https://doi.org/10.32735/s0718-6568/2020-n55-1453

Schuster, C., & Martiny, S. E. (2017). Not Feeling Good in STEM: Effects of Stereotype Activation and Anticipated Affect on Women’s Career Aspirations. Sex Roles, 76(1–2), 40–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0665-3

Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación—SENACYT. (2017). Aplicación y Análisis de la Encuesta de Percepción Social de la Ciencia y la Tecnología en Panamá, 2016. Available online: https://www.senacyt.gob.pa/publicaciones/?publicacion=aplicacion-y-analisis-de-la-encuesta-de-percepcion-social-de-la-ciencia-y-la-tecnologia-en-panama-2016 (accessed on 1 December 2024).

Sonnert, G., & Holton, G. J. (1995). Who succeeds in science?: the gender dimension. Rutgers University Press.

Suárez Amaya, W., Ganga-Contreras, F. (2022). Actions to reduce gender gaps in academia: Insights from the Chilean experience. Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 28(4), 17-34. https://doi.org/10.31876/rcs.v28i4.39112

Subinas, J. (2021). Social duality in opinion polls in Panama (October 2019–February 2021) (Spanish). Revista de Ciencia Política, 59(1), 183–207. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-5338.2021.61804

Svenson, N. & De Gracia, G. (2024). La educación superior post-pandemia en Panamá. Informe de educación superior en Iberoamérica. Available online: https://repositorio.ciedupanama.org/handle/123456789/346 (accessed on 1 December 2024).

Svenson, N., & De Gracia, G. (2017). Diagnosis of Higher Education and Research Capacities: The Case of Social Sciences in the Republic of Panama (Spanish). Revista de Educación Superior En América Latina, 1, 20–22. https://doi.org/10.14482/esal.1.9072

Tapia-Tapia, S., Fajardo-Monroy, G., & Padrón-Palacios, T. (2023). Social reproduction, gender and academia during the Covid-19 pandemic: Experiences from Ecuador (Spanish). Sociedad y Economía, 48, e10411972. https://doi.org/10.25100/sye.v0i48.11972

UNESCO, IESALC. (2021). Women in higher education: has the female advantage put an end to gender inequalities? Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377183 (accessed on 1 December 2024).

UNESCO/IESALC. (2020). COVID-19 y educación superior: De los efectos inmediatos al día después—Análisis de impactos, respuestas políticas y recomendaciones. Available online: https://www.iesalc.unesco.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/COVID-19-ES-130520.pdf (accessed on 1 December 2024).

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (2021). Science Report 2021: The Race Against Time for Smarter Development. Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377250 (accessed on 1 December 2024).

van der Lee, R., & Ellemers, N. (2015). Gender contributes to personal research funding success in The Netherlands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(40), 12349–12353. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510159112

Ventura Montes, U. (2020). Peruvian teachers’ perspective on the reasons and limitations that make continuous dedication to scientific research impossible (Spanish). Revista Educación, 208–225. https://doi.org/10.15517/revedu.v44i2.39544

Wang, Y., Wu, Q. & Li, L. (2024). Examining the influence of women scientists on scientific impact and novelty: insights from top business journals. Scientometrics, 129, 3517–3542. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-024-05014-2

Xu, X. (2020). The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Research. International Higher Education, 104, 18–19. https://doi.org/10.36197/IHE.2020.104.09

Yousaf, R., & Schmiede, R. (2017). Barriers to women’s representation in academic excellence and positions of power. Asian Journal of German and European Studies, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40856-017-0013-6

Previous
article in this issue

Next
article in this issue