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Women receiving their first research grant from the National Institutes of Health are awarded an average of $39,000 less than men, according to an analysis published this week (March 5) in JAMA.
The authors of the study did not find discrepancies in performance between the men and women in the study that might explain the difference—both groups had published similar numbers of papers, with similar citation figures, and differences in funding remained even when the analysis was limited to researchers at certain types of institutions, such as those in the Ivy League. However, the trend was reversed when the analysis homed in on certain highly funded grants, such as those known as R01s, for which first-time women awardees received nearly $16,000 more, on average, than their male counterparts.
“That first grant is monumentally important and determines your trajectory,” Carolina Abdala, a head and neck specialist at ...
