Kozlowski, D., Lodge, S.N., Pradier, C., Cobla, G.M., Monroe-White, T., Larivière, V., Ngila, D., Sugimoto, C.R. (2024). Race and gender representation and topical alignments in South African scholarly communications. Proceedings of the 28th Science, Technology and Innovation conference.
Decades after apartheid, South Africa grapples with persistent racial and gender inequalities, notably in labor and education. This study employs the South Africa Knowledgebase (SAK) to analyze racial and gender disparities among South African researchers, uncovering insights into academic representation, collaboration patterns, and thematic distributions. Our results reveal significant underrepresentation of Black and Coloured authors, particularly women, in South African research, relative to national population proportions. Gendered patterns emerge, with women’s peak participation occurring earlier in their careers, suggesting targeted policies to sustain their involvement. Field and topic distributions reflect intersectional identities, impacting knowledge production and reinforcing societal inequalities. Active science policies are imperative to address underrepresentation and its detrimental effects on innovation and societal equity. Understanding the root causes demands comprehensive examination across educational and career pathways.
This content has been updated on February 25 2025 at 10 h 42 min.
