Academic Career Advances and Gender Gap
| Author | Guillermina Benavides Rincón,Alejandro Díaz Domínguez |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211044012 |
| Published date | 01 February 2023 |
| Date | 01 February 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/14789299211044012
Political Studies Review
2023, Vol. 21(1) 42 –62
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/14789299211044012
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Academic Career Advances
and Gender Gap
Guillermina Benavides Rincón
and Alejandro Díaz Domínguez
Abstract
Is there a gender gap barrier against the career advancement of women researchers in Mexico?
To explore possible answers to this question, we review the specialized literature, based on the
“sticky floor” and “glass ceiling” conceptual framework, and then offer an empirical approach
to test whether such a gap exists as well as some theoretical reasons that could explain it. We
analyzed a massive dataset of 41,000 members of the National System of Researchers (SNI) under
the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) in Mexico from 1991 to 2017.
To test determinants of advancement, we consider gender, areas of knowledge, states in which
researchers reside, years in which initial applications and promotions took place, and universities
to which researchers belong to. We found that there is a similar chance to advance from the
lower levels of the system, following the sticky floor analogy, but women make a little progress
after these initial levels when compared to men, in line with the glass ceiling idea. We also offer
additional research avenues in this topic, due to another important finding, which reveals that 62%
of researchers never make progress at the level in which they initially join.
Keywords
gender gap, research systems, career advances, Mexico, academia
Accepted: 12 August 2021
Introduction
In 1984, Mexico established the SNI (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores, or National
System of Researchers) considered the first public policy with the aim of providing a
mechanism for researchers to obtain academic recognition, and an economic stimulus in
the context of the economic crisis the country faced. This policy also tried to minimize the
drop in research activities and the brain drain (Bensusán et al., 2018). Although it was
considered a temporary measure, in full operation during the economic crisis, the system
was later institutionalized as an evaluation mechanism of Mexican researchers affiliated
to higher education institutions and research centers. The goal of the system is to assess,
School of Government, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico
Corresponding author:
Guillermina Benavides, School of Government, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64849, Mexico.
Email: gbr@tec.mx
1044012PSW0010.1177/14789299211044012Political Studies ReviewBenavides Rincón and Díaz Domínguez
research-article2021
Article
Benavides Rincón and Díaz Domínguez 43
on an individual basis, the quality of scientific production through the classification of
researchers in levels.
The SNI system comprises five levels and each application is assessed by a committee.
To become a member, among other requirements, a researcher must hold a doctoral
degree; ongoing scientific or technological research activities; mentorship and knowl-
edge dissemination. Those who apply should exhibit peer reviewed articles, chapters, or
books published by recognized publishing houses. Technological research comprises
intellectual property granted or transferred in Mexico or abroad and projects that produce
new knowledge and technological developments oriented to solve real life problems.
Academic mentorship includes chairing undergraduate or graduate committees to approve
senior and postgraduate degree theses; training of researchers and research groups, and
teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Finally, knowledge dissemination
activities can be for society at large and promotion of early scientific vocations.
To become a candidate, applicants must demonstrate capacity to carry out research
through the evaluation of scientific or technological research products; comply with the
specific criteria for the area of knowledge of their choice and the level to which they aspire.
To become level I, in addition to candidate’s requirements, researchers must have chaired
undergraduate or graduate thesis in Mexico, teaching and training activities of undergradu-
ate and graduate courses. To achieve level II, applicants must have a consolidated research
area and chair or co chair doctoral dissertations in Mexico. To achieve level III, researchers
must have carried out research that represents a significant scientific or technological con-
tribution, play a leadership role in the national scientific or technological community,
receive national and international recognition, and have carried out outstanding work in
the formation of a high-level scientific community. To reach emeritus, a researcher must
be at least 65 years old and hold level III at the time of application.
In the context of the SNI, which serves as a catalyst for researchers’ careers in general,
and women researchers in particular, the object of this study is twofold: to verify whether
a gender gap exists and to what extent this gap is associated with female researchers’
advancement, based on quantitative analyses of Mexico’s SNI from 1990 to 2017. Our
research question revolves around whether visible and invisible barriers in a gendered
world, such as academia, are related to researchers’ gaps. It would be ideal to verify this
association using individual level data in which these barriers were captured by survey
responses among female and male researchers, including demographics, family situa-
tions, and home and work specific responsibilities, among others, to better understand all
these potential relationships. The available data, however, are limited to other equally
relevant variables, such as public or private home affiliation, state in which they work,
years in the system, and in which level of the system’s hierarchy they are placed on an
annual basis.
Our aim is to take advantage of the public information with the aforementioned vari-
ables to verify whether a gender gap exists, and whether being a female researcher, once
admitted in the system, is less likely to make progress in the hierarchy. Although there has
been a significant increase in the participation of women in the SNI system, in 2017, the
proportion of female researchers in Mexico’s SNI was 37%, comprising approximately
10,000 women as opposed to 17,500 men. Historical data reveal a significant increase in
the participation of women in the SNI, from 18.1% (253) in 1984 to 36.2% (9080) in 2016
(Bensusán et al., 2018). Several authors have noted the gender disparity that prevails in
the SNI (de Garay and del Valle Díaz-Muñoz, 2012; Didou and Gérard, 2011; Evangelista-
García et al., 2012), analyzing women under representation, which roughly reach one
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