Networks of Opportunity: Gender and Institutional Inequality in Astronomy

• In Event: Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 3: Economic and Organizational Sociology

Abstract

Collaboration is widely understood as central to contemporary scientific research, yet most studies of collaboration focus on scholars at Research 1 (R1) universities, who are overrepresented in funding, publishing, and research output. As a result, we know far less about how collaboration is experienced by faculty at smaller or under-resourced institutions (SUIs), or how institutional context intersects with gender to shape collaborative opportunity. This study addresses that gap through interviews with astronomers at both R1 universities and SUIs.
Drawing on interviews conducted with a gender-diverse sample of astronomy faculty, I examine how institutional resource environments structure collaboration strategies. I find that R1 institutions provide dense internal research networks, allowing faculty to initiate projects by leveraging colleagues and graduate students within their departments. In contrast, SUI faculty rely heavily on external collaborations to remain engaged in research, often navigating tensions stemming from higher teaching loads and limited infrastructure. Gender further moderates these dynamics. Across institution types, men more frequently enter collaborations through weak ties or unsolicited outreach based on recognized expertise. Women, by contrast, often rely on preexisting personal relationships to initiate collaborations, resulting in networks that are smaller and more relationally embedded. While trust-based collaboration can be productive, it may constrain opportunities for network expansion and visibility. This may be particularly true for women at SUIs who already operate with fewer institutional resources.
Together, these findings demonstrate that collaboration is not experienced uniformly across academia. Instead, institutional inequality and gendered network dynamics interact to shape access to opportunity in astronomy. Efforts to promote equity in the field must therefore address not only representation, but also the organizational structures that govern collaboration itself.

Author

• Timothy Sacco, University of Arizona