A new study adds to a growing body of research that suggests subtle differences in how women describe their discoveries may affect their career trajectories. Male authors were more likely to sprinkle words like “novel,” “unique” and “excellent” into the abstracts that summarize their scientific papers, compared to female authors. Lerchenmueller was inspired to study how male and female scientists communicate their work after discussions with his wife, Carolin Lerchenmueller, a cardiologist and scientist. “Is this something that might be more acceptable when men do it, vs. when women do it?” Marc Lerchenmueller said. “The cost to women of publishing a paper is much higher than it is for men: Female authors spend three to six months longer under review,” Hengel reported.

Source: Washington Post December 16, 2019 23:26 UTC