Ann Arbor Times

Many women scientists are choosing not to promote their research on social media, potentially affecting their professional advancement. A study from the University of Michigan reveals that women are 28% less likely than men to share their scientific papers on X (formerly Twitter). This digital decision could have significant implications for recognition and career progression.

The study controlled for variables such as research field, institutional affiliation, and social media use but still found a notable gender gap. Surprisingly, this gap persists even in fields where gender balance is more equitable. The disparity becomes more pronounced as women progress in their careers.

High-performing women from prestigious institutions publishing in top journals are the least likely to promote their work online. These researchers stand to gain the most from increased visibility. "This isn’t just about tweets. It’s about who gets seen, cited and celebrated in science," stated Daniel Romero, co-author of the study and associate professor at the University of Michigan.

The gender gap is particularly evident among productive women from elite institutions with publications in high-impact journals. Over six years, Romero and his colleagues analyzed scholarly self-promotion using 23 million tweets related to 2.8 million research papers by 3.5 million scientists.

The findings highlight concerns about academic social media norms that favor traditionally masculine styles of self-presentation, which may discourage women's participation. Universities and other institutions should consider how engagement metrics can impact hiring and promotion decisions due to these disparities.

"Since visibility metrics, such as citations and media mentions, play a role in hiring and promotion decisions, recognizing that these metrics may be influenced by self-promotion disparities can encourage institutions to develop strategies to reduce the barriers contributing to these differences," said Misha Teplitskiy, another co-author of the study.

The research was published in Nature Communications with contributions from former U-M doctoral student Hao Peng at City University of Hong Kong and Emőke-Ágnes Horvát of Northwestern University.