Researcher Population Pyramids: Tracking Demographic and Gender Trajectories Across Countries

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Hauptverfasser: Nakajima, Kazuki, Mizuno, Takayuki
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Nakajima, Kazuki
Mizuno, Takayuki
author_facet Nakajima, Kazuki
Mizuno, Takayuki
contents The sustainability of the academic ecosystem relies on researcher demographics and gender balance, yet assessing these dynamics in a timely manner for policy is challenging. Here, we propose a researcher population pyramid framework for tracking demographic and gender trajectories across countries using publication data. We provide a timely snapshot of historical and present demographics and gender balance across 58 countries, revealing three contrasting patterns among research systems: Emerging systems (e.g., Arab countries) exhibit high researcher inflows with widening gender gaps in cumulative productivity; Mature systems (e.g., the United States) show modest inflows with narrowing gender gaps; and Rigid systems (e.g., Japan) lag in both. Furthermore, by simulating future scenarios, the framework makes potential trajectories visible. If 2023 demographic patterns persist, Arab countries' systems could resemble mature or even rigid ones by 2050. Our framework provides a robust diagnostic tool for policymakers worldwide to foster sustainable talent pipelines and gender equality in academia.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_15500
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Researcher Population Pyramids: Tracking Demographic and Gender Trajectories Across Countries
Nakajima, Kazuki
Mizuno, Takayuki
Digital Libraries
Physics and Society
The sustainability of the academic ecosystem relies on researcher demographics and gender balance, yet assessing these dynamics in a timely manner for policy is challenging. Here, we propose a researcher population pyramid framework for tracking demographic and gender trajectories across countries using publication data. We provide a timely snapshot of historical and present demographics and gender balance across 58 countries, revealing three contrasting patterns among research systems: Emerging systems (e.g., Arab countries) exhibit high researcher inflows with widening gender gaps in cumulative productivity; Mature systems (e.g., the United States) show modest inflows with narrowing gender gaps; and Rigid systems (e.g., Japan) lag in both. Furthermore, by simulating future scenarios, the framework makes potential trajectories visible. If 2023 demographic patterns persist, Arab countries' systems could resemble mature or even rigid ones by 2050. Our framework provides a robust diagnostic tool for policymakers worldwide to foster sustainable talent pipelines and gender equality in academia.
title Researcher Population Pyramids: Tracking Demographic and Gender Trajectories Across Countries
topic Digital Libraries
Physics and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15500