A systematic analysis of United Kingdom cancer research funding by gender of primary investigator
A systematic analysis of United Kingdom cancer research funding by gender of primary investigator
Objectives
To categorically describe cancer research funding in the United Kingdom (UK) by gender of primary investigator (PIs).
Design
Systematic analysis of all open-access data.
Methods
Data about public and philanthropic cancer research funding awarded to UK institutions between 2000 and 2013 were obtained from several sources. Fold differences were used to compare total investment, award number, mean and median award value between male and female (PIs). Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to determine statistically significant associations between PI gender and median grant value.
Results
Of the studies included in our analysis, 2,890 (69%) grants with a total value of £1.82 billion (78%) were awarded to male PIs compared to 1,296 (31%) grants with a total value of £512 million (22%) awarded to female PIs. Male PIs received 1.3 times the median award value of their female counterparts (p<0.001). These apparent absolute and relative differences largely persisted regardless of sub-analyses.
Conclusions
We demonstrate substantial differences in cancer research investment awarded by gender. Female PIs clearly and consistently receive less funding than their male counterparts in terms of total investment, the number of funded awards, mean funding awarded and median funding awarded.
Head, Michael
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Zhou, Charlie
da9e2a91-485b-403c-b989-1bb99a8c10cd
Marshall, Dominic
d4321f27-ea10-488e-85ad-1ae973697310
Gilbert, Barnabus
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El-Harasis, Majid
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Raine, Rosalind
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O'Connor, Henrietta
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Atun, Rifat
969b6eec-90fa-4871-955f-11f6547f21a3
Maruthappu, Mahiben
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Head, Michael
67ce0afc-2fc3-47f4-acf2-8794d27ce69c
Zhou, Charlie
da9e2a91-485b-403c-b989-1bb99a8c10cd
Marshall, Dominic
d4321f27-ea10-488e-85ad-1ae973697310
Gilbert, Barnabus
94593103-fc28-414d-a3de-441849800ad0
El-Harasis, Majid
e0ac6a1f-0a2a-4983-b8f7-3b9dc6129c72
Raine, Rosalind
d5b2db5f-1aa2-4029-82bc-4cc20d0c318c
O'Connor, Henrietta
7493de75-39e6-4e3b-9f52-a6b81d563ba1
Atun, Rifat
969b6eec-90fa-4871-955f-11f6547f21a3
Maruthappu, Mahiben
2ef03040-9447-4c63-b6a7-34c8c615cc23
Head, Michael, Zhou, Charlie, Marshall, Dominic, Gilbert, Barnabus, El-Harasis, Majid, Raine, Rosalind, O'Connor, Henrietta, Atun, Rifat and Maruthappu, Mahiben
(2017)
A systematic analysis of United Kingdom cancer research funding by gender of primary investigator.
BMJ Open.
(In Press)
Abstract
Objectives
To categorically describe cancer research funding in the United Kingdom (UK) by gender of primary investigator (PIs).
Design
Systematic analysis of all open-access data.
Methods
Data about public and philanthropic cancer research funding awarded to UK institutions between 2000 and 2013 were obtained from several sources. Fold differences were used to compare total investment, award number, mean and median award value between male and female (PIs). Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to determine statistically significant associations between PI gender and median grant value.
Results
Of the studies included in our analysis, 2,890 (69%) grants with a total value of £1.82 billion (78%) were awarded to male PIs compared to 1,296 (31%) grants with a total value of £512 million (22%) awarded to female PIs. Male PIs received 1.3 times the median award value of their female counterparts (p<0.001). These apparent absolute and relative differences largely persisted regardless of sub-analyses.
Conclusions
We demonstrate substantial differences in cancer research investment awarded by gender. Female PIs clearly and consistently receive less funding than their male counterparts in terms of total investment, the number of funded awards, mean funding awarded and median funding awarded.
Text
Accepted manuscript
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 3 November 2017
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 415319
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/415319
ISSN: 2044-6055
PURE UUID: 70157740-8d7c-428c-97ea-fde654f4c8b9
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 07 Nov 2017 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:21
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Contributors
Author:
Charlie Zhou
Author:
Dominic Marshall
Author:
Barnabus Gilbert
Author:
Majid El-Harasis
Author:
Rosalind Raine
Author:
Henrietta O'Connor
Author:
Rifat Atun
Author:
Mahiben Maruthappu
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