Reflections on pandemic's impact in women's knowledge production

Abstract

The pandemic has aggravated the existing gap between men and women in scientific production and citation. In this paper we attempt to reconstruct the state of the situation through scientific and popularization journals, information portals and documents from governmental and non-governmental organizations. Starting from the structural dimension of the problem linked to the cis-heteropatriarchal system at both international and local levels, we will investigate what has happened to gender inequality in scientific production during the pandemic. In this context, we will attempt to make a diagnosis of the situation and examine specific institutional policies that will allow us to reflect on possible ways to prevent the gender gap in the production of knowledge from continuing to widen. We also warn about the need to consider long-term measures aimed at ensuring that the consequences of the pandemic do not mean a postponement of women's careers that would lead in the future to an even greater reduction in the low percentage of women scientists and academics in the highest positions of the Scientific Researcher Career and in senior university teaching and management positions.