The Department of Health reports Medical Research Future Fund gender split on grants from 2017 up to May.
Chief Investigator applicants: 14 983 men and 14 512 women with funding rates for men and women both 25.7 per cent.
The application split for clinical medicine and science: men CIs 1124 and women 749 – success rates were 20 per cent women and nearly 24 per cent men.
202-21 was the first year there were more applicants from women CIs: and by a substantial margin, 6491 men and 7566 women – funding rate was comparable
The funded rate for men CIs: is higher in every age group expect the very young (25-29) where 4 per cent of women were funded and no men and 65 years plus (24 per cent w, 15 per cent m). However, “there is still a high attrition rate among women researchers at the later stages of their career.”
Women-led applications: tend to have larger and better gender-balanced teams. The latter have higher funding rates,
Grant assessment committees: fewer men who are leading chief investigators than women, “this may be consistent with the gender inequity burden of service seen in academia and other sectors.”
Take-outs
The National Health and Medical Research Council is targeting equal numbers of grants to men and women leading CIs. “If successful, the outcomes of this policy change may provide useful lessons” for the MRFF.
Membership of grant committees: DoH will, “continue to monitor data and learn from other funders, the research community and other stakeholders to inform appropriate approaches”.
“Future monitoring will help establish whether the equitable participation and funding of women and men is continuing over time. Analysis of these trends will inform policy changes (if necessary) to encourage gender equity.”
