Systemic Gendered Citation Imbalance in Computer Science: Evidence from Conferences and Journals

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Nakajima, Kazuki, Sasaki, Yuya, Tokuno, Sohei, Fletcher, George
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Nakajima, Kazuki
Sasaki, Yuya
Tokuno, Sohei
Fletcher, George
author_facet Nakajima, Kazuki
Sasaki, Yuya
Tokuno, Sohei
Fletcher, George
contents Gender imbalance persists across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including computer science, where it appears in researcher demographics, productivity, recognition, hiring, and career progression. Given computer science's rapid expansion and global influence, addressing this imbalance is essential for broadening participation and fueling innovation. Although journal-oriented disciplines exhibit consistent gender imbalances in citation practices, it remains unclear whether similar patterns arise in the conference-centric culture of computer science. Here, we systematically investigate gender imbalance in citations of conference and journal papers in computer science. We find that papers for which a woman is listed as either first or last author receive fewer citations than expected, partly because of homophilic citation tendencies (i.e., authors tend to cite papers that share specific attributes). This imbalance is especially pronounced for conference papers--particularly those published at top-tier venues--relative to journals. Moreover, we find that the prominence of the first or last author and the structure of their local co-authorship networks are potential drivers of these imbalances. By exploring how conference-centric publishing practices can amplify systemic imbalances in computer science, our study offers insights that may inform efforts to foster more equitable representation in academia.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_23273
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Systemic Gendered Citation Imbalance in Computer Science: Evidence from Conferences and Journals
Nakajima, Kazuki
Sasaki, Yuya
Tokuno, Sohei
Fletcher, George
Digital Libraries
Computers and Society
Social and Information Networks
Gender imbalance persists across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including computer science, where it appears in researcher demographics, productivity, recognition, hiring, and career progression. Given computer science's rapid expansion and global influence, addressing this imbalance is essential for broadening participation and fueling innovation. Although journal-oriented disciplines exhibit consistent gender imbalances in citation practices, it remains unclear whether similar patterns arise in the conference-centric culture of computer science. Here, we systematically investigate gender imbalance in citations of conference and journal papers in computer science. We find that papers for which a woman is listed as either first or last author receive fewer citations than expected, partly because of homophilic citation tendencies (i.e., authors tend to cite papers that share specific attributes). This imbalance is especially pronounced for conference papers--particularly those published at top-tier venues--relative to journals. Moreover, we find that the prominence of the first or last author and the structure of their local co-authorship networks are potential drivers of these imbalances. By exploring how conference-centric publishing practices can amplify systemic imbalances in computer science, our study offers insights that may inform efforts to foster more equitable representation in academia.
title Systemic Gendered Citation Imbalance in Computer Science: Evidence from Conferences and Journals
topic Digital Libraries
Computers and Society
Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23273