Gender disparity

Background Sleep duration is an important component of healthy aging, yet gender differences in short and long sleep among older adults remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to examine gender differences in sleep duration among Chinese older adults and quantify the contributions of socioeconomic, behavioral, functional, and health-related factors to these differences. Methods Data were obtained from 9,590 adults aged ≥65 years who participated in the 2018 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Sleep duration was self-reported and categorized as short (<6 h), normal (6–8 h), or long (>8 h). Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with short and long sleep, with weighted analyses and Poisson regression performed as sensitivity analyses. Separate Fairlie decomposition analyses were conducted for short and long sleep to quantify the contributions of observed characteristics to gender differences. Results Overall, 44.95% of participants had abnormal sleep duration, with a higher prevalence among women than men (46.87% vs. 42.66%, p < 0.001). Compared with men, women had a higher relative risk of short sleep (RRR = 1.399, 95% CI: 1.204–1.625) but a lower relative risk of long sleep (RRR = 0.856, 95% CI: 0.754–0.972). The association with short sleep remained significant in the weighted analysis (RRR = 1.530, 95% CI: 1.210–1.935), whereas the gender difference in long sleep was attenuated (RRR = 0.821, 95% CI: 0.661–1.021). For short sleep, observed characteristics explained 21.65% of the gender disparity. Education (22.75%), depressive symptoms (11.07%), IADL limitation (6.02%), and self-assessed health (4.82%) contributed positively to the disparity, whereas smoking status (−22.57%), drinking status (−12.45%), and exercise (−4.87%) partially offset it. The gender difference in long sleep was negligible, with substantial offsetting contributions across factors. Conclusion Gender differences in sleep duration among Chinese older adults were primarily concentrated in short sleep, with women experiencing a higher risk. Socioeconomic, behavioral, psychological, and functional characteristics contributed to this disparity, although most of the short-sleep difference remained unexplained. Gender-sensitive interventions addressing educational disadvantage, depressive symptoms, functional limitations, and health behaviors may help reduce inequalities in sleep duration among older adults.

Women comprise the majority of students and early-career scholars in psychology, yet they are less likely to remain active in research over time. This pattern raises a central question: At what stages of academic careers do women disproportionately leave academia, and what factors drive their attrition? Using large-scale bibliometric data tracking 78,216 psychologists who began publishing between 2000 and 2014, we examine gender differences in research career attrition operationalized through publishing activity across the full trajectory from entry onward. Although women accounted for more than 60\% of new entrants, they experienced higher attrition rates than men, with the gender gap peaking approximately five years after first publication. Early-career performance, particularly first-authored publications, was the strongest predictor of subsequent retention, whereas last-authored publications were most closely associated with continued activity at later career stages. Collaboration patterns and institutional context also shaped career persistence, though less strongly than publication indicators. Notably, gender differences in research attrition persisted even after accounting for these career determinants, especially during early career stages. These findings suggest that gender inequality in psychology is driven less by recruitment than by differential retention over time. Addressing early-career vulnerability may therefore be essential to achieving equitable representation in senior academic leadership within the discipline.

زنان اکثریت دانشجویان و پژوهشگران اوایل دوران حرفه‌ای در روان‌شناسی را تشکیل می‌دهند، با این حال احتمال ماندگاری آن‌ها در فعالیت‌های پژوهشی در طول زمان کمتر است. این الگو پرسشی اساسی را مطرح می‌کند: در کدام مراحل از مسیر شغلی دانشگاهی، زنان به طور نامتناسبی دانشگاه را ترک می‌کنند و چه عواملی موجب ترک تحصیل آن‌ها می‌شود؟ با استفاده از داده‌های کتاب‌سنجی در مقیاس وسیع که ۷۸٬۲۱۶ روان‌شناس را که بین سال‌های ۲۰۰۰ تا ۲۰۱۴ شروع به انتشار کردند، ردیابی می‌کند، تفاوت‌های جنسیتی در ترک مسیر پژوهشی را که از طریق فعالیت انتشاراتی در سراسر مسیر حرفه‌ای از ورود به بعد عملیاتی شده است، بررسی می‌کنیم. اگرچه زنان بیش از ۶۰٪ از تازه‌واردان را تشکیل می‌دادند، اما نرخ ترک تحصیل بالاتری نسبت به مردان تجربه کردند و شکاف جنسیتی تقریباً پنج سال پس از نخستین انتشار به اوج خود رسید. عملکرد اوایل دوران حرفه‌ای، به ویژه انتشارات با نویسنده اول، قوی‌ترین پیش‌بینی‌کننده ماندگاری بعدی بود، در حالی که انتشارات با نویسنده آخر بیشترین ارتباط را با تداوم فعالیت در مراحل بعدی حرفه‌ای داشت. الگوهای همکاری و زمینه نهادی نیز بر پایداری حرفه‌ای تأثیرگذار بودند، اگرچه این تأثیر کمتر از شاخص‌های انتشاراتی بود. شایان توجه است که تفاوت‌های جنسیتی در ترک پژوهش حتی پس از در نظر گرفتن این تعیین‌کننده‌های حرفه‌ای، به ویژه در مراحل اولیه حرفه‌ای، همچنان باقی ماند. این یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که نابرابری جنسیتی در روان‌شناسی بیشتر ناشی از جذب نیست، بلکه ناشی از ماندگاری متفاوت در طول زمان است. بنابراین پرداختن به آسیب‌پذیری اوایل دوران حرفه‌ای ممکن است برای دستیابی به نمایندگی عادلانه در رهبری دانشگاهی ارشد در این رشته ضروری باشد.