Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2022
  • Article
  • Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ruomeng Cui, Hao Ding and Feng Zhu
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:20
ShareBar

Abstract

We study the disproportionate impact of the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak on female and male academics' research productivity in social science. The lockdown has caused substantial disruptions to academic activities, requiring people to work from home. How this disruption affects productivity and the related gender equity is an important operations and societal question. We collect data from the largest open-access preprint repository for social science on 41,858 research preprints in 18 disciplines produced by 76,832 authors across 25 countries over a span of two years. We use a difference-in-differences approach leveraging the exogenous pandemic shock. Our results indicate that, in the 10 weeks after the lockdown in the United States, although total research productivity increased by 35 percent, female academics' productivity dropped by 13.2 percent relative to that of male academics. We also show that this intensified productivity gap is more pronounced for assistant professors and for academics in top-ranked universities and is found in six other countries. Our work points out the fairness issue in productivity caused by the lockdown, a finding that universities will find helpful when evaluating faculty productivity. It also helps organizations realize the potential unintended consequences that can arise from telecommuting.

Keywords

Gender Inequality; Research Productivity; Telecommuting; COVID-19 Pandemic; Research; Performance Productivity; Gender; Equality and Inequality; Health Pandemics

Citation

Cui, Ruomeng, Hao Ding, and Feng Zhu. "Gender Inequality in Research Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic." Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 24, no. 2 (March–April 2022): 707–726.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Feng Zhu

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • January 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Driving Efficiency and Sustainability at P&G China

    By: Feng Zhu, Philip Kuai and Billy Chan
    • November–December 2024
    • Harvard Business Review

    How to Avoid the Agility Trap

    By: Jianwen Liao and Feng Zhu
    • November 2024 (Revised April 2025)
    • Faculty Research

    Cheerful Music

    By: Shunyuan Zhang, Feng Zhu and Nancy Hua Dai
More from the Authors
  • Driving Efficiency and Sustainability at P&G China By: Feng Zhu, Philip Kuai and Billy Chan
  • How to Avoid the Agility Trap By: Jianwen Liao and Feng Zhu
  • Cheerful Music By: Shunyuan Zhang, Feng Zhu and Nancy Hua Dai
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.